Chasing the Endless Sunrise
by electric gurrl
Summary: Once upon a time a princess loved an acrobat, an acrobat loved a princess, and this inexplicable attraction was a puzzle they wanted to spend their whole lives trying to solve. And each moment, memory, burning touch and breathless kiss was a small clue. 100 fluffy Tyzula drabbles and oneshots.
1. I've always wanted to see a dragon

A/N: **Some Quick Facts About This Fic:  
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**Purpose: **This is my promised 100 themed drabbles series. I've been meaning to tackle it since July, and I finally have the free time to do it. The first 21 are all drabbles, but later ones are occasionally over 2k words.

**Chapters: **100.

**Pairing: **Ty Lee / Azula.

**Rated: **T for sexual references and limes, possible mild language.

**Prompts/Suggestions: **Each one is based on a prompt/suggestion I got from the readers. I now officially have all 100 prompts and the drabbles planned.

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><p><em>(Moment One) <em>**"I always wanted to see a dragon."**

_(prompted by) _**beautyandrage**

"Is it true that the royal family is descended from dragons?" Ty Lee asks, so innocently that it amuses Azula.

The campfire burns low and the princess has been contemplating relighting it or quenching it for the past five minutes, her thoughts distracted by embers and not her pursuit of the Avatar. The red glow of the wood that has burned low makes shadows on the damp Earth Kingdom grass.

"Yes," Azula replies, smirking faintly. She sits on a rock, her body precariously balanced. Ty Lee is on the ground, her clothes wet from the grass and the spring rain.

"I always wanted to see a dragon," Ty Lee chirps blithely and Azula laughs, a slight derision in her cackle. "It's true, princess. They're just..." Ty Lee shrugs, finding the conversation not worth pursuing.

Azula slips down from the rock and steps across the clearing with confident strides. She sits beside Ty Lee in the utter silence, examining her cheeks that have turned light pink despite the cold. Azula is studying her with a preternatural stillness that makes Ty Lee's breath slow.

"My Uncle killed the last dragon," Azula says abruptly and Ty Lee jumps. The princess leans back, setting one leg over Ty Lee, testing the waters. The fire is burning lower and they are almost submerged in the pale moonlight, shadows dancing across their faces. "I wish he hadn't."

"So do I," Ty Lee says, offering a faint smile. Her fingers touch Azula's ankle hesitantly, as if the darkness makes it okay. "Did he tell you about it?"

"No," Azula says airily with a small shrug. Ignoring the electricity that surges from her companion's fingertips, like Azula is shocked by a vaguely erotic bolt of lightning. "But my father told me about how the royal family used the dragons to conquer the Fire Nation, and that's why our bending is so powerful. I mean, I might as well be a dragon, if you've always wanted to see one."

Azula has this smug, amused smirk on her rosy lips. The fire is dying more rapidly and Ty Lee studies Azula's face closely, wondering what she will do next with a twisting anxiety in her stomach.

"You're about as terrifying as a dragon," Ty Lee murmurs, noticing how very close Azula is leaning towards her. "Most people would probably rather anger a dragon than you."

Azula's smile falters and Ty Lee's heart skips a beat. But Azula laughs; a _genuine _laugh, not high and fake like usual.

"Well, then you probably shouldn't cross me," Azula murmurs, and they are in darkness. The fire is gone and Azula's lips are on Ty Lee's neck. Her shoulders shoot up in shock, in response to the heat of the princess's mouth.

"I'll keep that in mind, princess," Ty Lee says so sweetly it is almost sickening.

Her eyes adjust to the starlight, and she presses her lips fiercely against Azula's.

They will deny it in the morning, but they are here and now.

And Ty Lee is in love with a dragon.

The desire is as unquenchable as a dragon's flame.

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><p>AN: Next up - "Love is a Battlefield" as prompted by Streetlight Eyes (not a songfic, don't worry, just inspired by the song)


	2. Love is a Battlefield

_(Theme Two) - _**"Love is a Battlefield" - Pat Benatar**

_(Prompted By) - _**Streetlight Eyes**

Azula still has scars on her wrists from the handcuffs. The multitude of handcuffs that she only overcame by surrendering with honor, surrendering to a new life that she is still unsure about living. This broken life she is living. The one that lets her keep her bending and her freedom, well, a sorry excuse for freedom.

She sometimes wakes up with the sensation of having been bound, then gasps for breath and touches her wrists. Touches the marks on her previously perfect skin. All she craved was perfection, and now she is tied back by invisible chains that restrict her lungs like a rainy night.

"Are you okay?" Ty Lee murmurs beside her and Azula only just realizes that there is someone in bed with her. Her thoughts were preoccupied by her nightmares, by the dreams of drowning, being held down by a different face each time. Father, Zuko, Mai...

"Of course," Azula replies, drawing her knees to her chest. She contemplates running from the situation but decides against it.

"I love you," whispers Ty Lee as if it is some kind of consolation.

_"What do you want from me, Azula?" Ty Lee asks, her voice trembling. They stand by the pier, two weeks after returning from their victory over Ba Sing Se. "I just don't understand."_

_ Someone who faces terrifying things with a smile has trembling lips. She looks on the verge of tears and Azula supposes she should have known that her friend is quite bright enough to play these games. Princess Azula barely can keep up with them, and she makes the rules._

_ Azula steps forward confidently, though she is terrified inside. She feels trapped by this love, chained to Ty Lee's side. If it ever shattered, if the bonds were to break, Azula would not know what to do. And so she tightens them around Ty Lee, only to inadvertently tighten them around herself. It sickens her but she likes the nausea it brings. _

_ "I want to make you love me so much you ask for permission to breathe," Azula whispers, her sharp fingertips brushing against Ty Lee's smooth skin, making the acrobat break out in goosebumps._

_ It is at that moment that she is bound to Azula._

"I left my life for you," Ty Lee says, touching Azula's hand. Her fingertips graze against the moon white scars. "I don't want to watch you hurt."

She wants Azula to give her pain to Ty Lee. The acrobat would rather be feeling it than watching the princess feel it.

"Then sleep with me," Azula breathes, crawling across the bed.

Their lips meet and they fall into each other. Fingers straying, moans, gasps and the delaying of confronting their faults and failings. The heat, the rush, orgasm in exchange for forgetting. Forgetting is so much easier than remembering.

It is not going to save her. But it binds them together like the red string of fate.

Ty Lee is trapped.

And she loves it.

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><p>AN: Next up - "Fire Gummies" as prompted by beautyandrage


	3. Fire Gummies

_(Theme Three) _**Fire Gummies**

_(Prompted by) _**beautyandrage**

"Festival food is _delicious_," Ty Lee declares and the look in her eyes dares anyone to disagree with her. Mai examines her tiny waist and wonders how she can consume so much _sugar _and still stay thin. Maybe something about _cartwheeling _everywhere she goes.

"I'm not allowed to eat it," Azula says airily as Ty Lee thrusts a red paper bag of candy into Azula's hands. She clasps her fingers around Azula's and Mai thinks she caught the princess blushing. "My father says it will─"

"Is your father here, princess?" Mai chimes in, smirking faintly. It is outstanding how her face can remain so _sullen _even when she is entertained. "You know you want to... just one fire gummy. The Fire Nation will not come to a screeching halt if you eat one."

Azula sighs haughtily and glances between her friends. This has to count for some kind of treason, but Azula plucks out one, her fingers now coated in cinnamon and spice, and pries the sticky gummies apart from each other. Mai chortles as she watches Azula struggle to separate the candies, and finally, the princess settles for tearing off a piece.

She puts it in her mouth with a contemplative expression that is far too serious for candy-sampling.

"These are..." Azula begins, raising an eyebrow. "Quite good, actually."

The princess pops two in her mouth and Ty Lee giggles. She wraps her arm around Azula's waist and now Mai is certain that the immovable princess with a cold storage shed in place of her heart just blushed. They're in love and it is disgusting, not that Mai would point it out. She doesn't like the idea of having lightning thrown at her.

They are bored and alone, wandering the city as the days creep by after the victory of Ba Sing Se. Waiting for an invasion, waiting for a comet, _waiting_. And Mai is watching her two best friends finally start confirming what they have been leading up to for so _long _it makes her head hurt. But that does not make it any less... creepy.

"Here," Ty Lee says, reaching into her own bag of sizzle crisps and putting two in Azula's mouth. "Completely terrible for you, but completely delicious."

"Oh, are you guys going to be _that _kind of couple?" Mai asks, grimacing with an eyebrow cocked.

"We are not a _couple_, Mai," Azula snarls, her eyes glittering as if she is about to burn an earthbender alive. "Do we look like a couple to you?"

"Kind of, princess," Mai says with a shrug, although she knows she is dancing with imminent disaster.

But Mai has poked a sleeping dragon, and in her haughtiest, iciest, facing down Long Feng tone, Azula replies, "We are not a couple, and we never will be. I am Princess Azula the Conqueror and I do not do _couples─_"

She is cut off by lips against hers. They taste like sugar and cinnamon and Mai suppresses laughter by sucking in air as Azula blushes yet again. It is kind of adorable, which is totally gross.

"We're whatever Princess Azula says we are, Mai," Ty Lee says sweetly, smirking at the kiss.

Azula has no response.

As soon as her friends are distracted by a street performer, who Azula notices has completely improper form, she brushes her fingertips against her lips. Her tongue still tastes like cinnamon.

Princess Azula does not _do _couples.

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><p>AN: Next up - "I Am Not Helpless" as prompted by HeavenBesideYou13


	4. I am not helpless

_(Theme Four) _**I Am Not Helpless**

_(Prompted by)_** HeavenBesideYou13**

Azula visits Kyoshi Island for the first time in the dead of winter. Not only is she shivering the moment she arrives, but the snow utterly disgusts her. It is warm in the Fire Nation, and she longs to be in her home. But she promised to visit Ty Lee, and she will hold true to that promise.

Things are going... better. Maybe better. She has good days and bad days and some days just wants to scream and other days simply lie in bed and sleep for a thousand years. But here she is, trekking across the ocean to visit an old flame. A new spark; someone she won't admit she is in love with.

She clutches a bag she packed herself, much to the dismay of Zuko. He insisted that she had no idea how to pack for herself, to which she snarled at him and he let her dig her own grave. She pulls the bag close to her and squints at the warriors. They all look exactly the same to her.

"Well, hi you," comes a familiar voice and Princess Azula feels relief wash over her.

Lips touch hers and she sinks into the embrace. Ty Lee still smells like cinnamon, even after living in this disgusting peasant village. Azula misses the palace beyond all else, even if it is her prison without bars. Even if it is reigned over by Fire Lord Zuko, who thought she could not pack a bag by herself.

Princess Azula is not helpless. She is not insane and she is not helpless, no matter what they all say. What they all say but Ty Lee.

"Come on, let's get you unpacked," Ty Lee murmurs, wrapping her arm around Azula's waist. Azula allows it, although flaunting the relationship is an unpleasant thought to her. She is quite selfless, isn't she?

"I'm freezing cold," Azula says airily, as if she does not care. Ty Lee frowns, examining Azula's clothing. They are more fit for a Fire Nation winter.

"I'll keep you warm," Ty Lee responds, a tone of seduction in her high, blithe voice. Azula smirks wickedly.

They come to a stop at a small, ramshackle house. These are _no _conditions for a princess, but Azula takes a deep breath and tells herself that she can manage. She conquered Ba Sing Se, she slew the Avatar; she can spend a few nights in a gross island village. Even if it is so _cold_.

Azula steps inside and tosses her bag on the bed. It could fit two people and Azula's expression sours at the thought of all of the little peasants knowing that Azula is sleeping with Ty Lee. Well, she is, but she does not want people to _think _that.

"You can just unpack. Use the drawers if you want, of course, princess," Ty Lee says and Azula must admit she likes being spoken to like royalty instead of a criminal.

Azula reaches into her bag and empties the contents on the bed. Ty Lee starts giggling hysterically and Azula purses her lips, golden eyes flashing like an aggravated beast. The princess takes a deep breath.

"I don't understand what's funny, Ty Lee. Please enlighten me?" Azula crosses her arms tightly across her chest, elbows pressing against her cleavage. Ty Lee coughs and chokes, trying to stop laughing.

"You... you packed two shirts, and some underwear and... no pants. I don't..." Ty Lee stammers, turning bright red. She examines the princess's belongings one more time and sucks in air to keep from laughing harder.

"I can pack my own bags. I am not _helpless_," Azula says sharply, her silver tongue barbed. Ty Lee coughs again, trying to disguise her laughter. "I don't need _servants _to do everything for me. I am a perfectly capable adult."

"It'll be okay. You can borrow my pants," Ty Lee says, smirking so smugly that Azula wants to slap the look off of her face. But the princess has been forced to practice restraint in the custody of her brother, and she applies it to the situation, lying down on the bed.

Ty Lee was right when she said she would keep her warm. Azula sleeps in her underwear and slim cloth bra, and the Kyoshi Warrior wraps herself around her in the cold winter night.

Azula feels a warmth in her body and her bones. Ty Lee's lips touch her neck and sends more ripples of heat through her half naked body.

Maybe it wasn't an incredible mistake to pack so lightly.

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><p>Next Up: an AU ending of Sozin's Comet prompted by Zippy Saboteur.<p> 


	5. I can't see the stars

_(Theme Five) _- **I can't see the stars **(AU end of Sozin's Comet)

_(prompted by) _- **Zippy Saboteur**

_"We do this together," _Aang had said, and he knew it was the right choice. They broke into two groups, two teams, and now Aang, Katara, Zuko and the two girls are waiting for the inevitable.

The comet streaks across the sky, blacking out the stars.

_"We do this together," _Ozai had said, and it made his daughter smile. It was her idea, after all. She deserved to be taken with him as he overtook the Earth Kingdom.

Azula squints at the comet, feeling the surge of power within her. It is like breathing in a thousand suns, but it feels wrong. Everything seems to be categorized in _before _Ty Lee betrayed her, and _after _Ty Lee betrayed her. Before Ty Lee betrayed her, her life was like this night, but there were stars, points of light and reason. When she betrayed her, it streaked across her sky like a comet, blinding Azula. She couldn't see the stars anymore after that. No logic, no reason. She couldn't see the stars, just like she cannot tonight.

Ty Lee holds Mai's hand anxiously. Zuko cracks his knuckles over and over again, glancing at his girlfriend upon occasion. They escaped the Boiling Rock with him. He turned back to save Mai after she saved him and the act of reciprocity leads Katara, Aang and Zuko to believe that they now have the upper hand.

Azula and Fire Lord Ozai find themselves face to face with the Avatar and his friends. And _her _friends. Traitors, both of them. Azula... Azula does not care what happens to them anymore.

The fight breaks out before anything makes sense. The Avatar moves for her father and he abandons her to take on four competent fighters on her own. The clash between her father and the Avatar will be remembered forever, but Azula is left to narrowly dodge the water and ice coming her way, the knives trying to split her skin and the flames she blocks around her body. Counterattacks of azure light up the night, illuminating the missing stars like a blue supernova giving out on itself. A cosmic explosion.

Aang collides with a rock; Fire Lord Ozai is propelled back by the sudden gust of airbending. It whips Azula's hair around in the wind as she narrowly dodges Zuko's flames. They are powerful, beyond powerful, which Azula never thought she would see from her brother.

The fire burns the cold night, three firebenders with more power than the combustion of the sun. Mai is down with a blast of blue flame. She stumbles and hits her neck. Zuko runs to her side, creating a wall of fire to shield himself that Azula penetrates at the last moment with a bolt of lightning.

Katara shifts the tides, literally, and covers Mai and Zuko in a bubble. Ty Lee cartwheels forward and Azula is frozen momentarily. She shoots lightning to the side, narrowly missing Katara and breaking the waterbender's concentration. Her arm is hit by a single punch and Azula gasps.

She takes two steps back.

"Take her bending!" Zuko shouts as he helps a stumbling Mai to her feet.

Hesitation. Azula gives one glance and Ty Lee swallows.

"She can't do it, Zuko." Mai reaches into her pocket for her knife.

Aang plunges down into the water and Katara screams. Fire Lord Ozai turns to the scene of ice shards flying at Azula, knives shearing the fabric on her armor, and Ty Lee hesitating with glassy eyes in the middle of it all.

Ozai takes down Katara with flames that her shield of water cannot stop. She only prevents herself from falling like Aang by securing her feet in place with rapidly melting ice.

Azula dodges Ty Lee, who came to life as Ozai became locked in combat with his son. Zuko runs out of breath; Azula is breathless as she dodges a barrage of punches and meets them with powerful fire from one arm, the other wrapped around herself.

_"How many stars do you think there are?" Ty Lee asks, staring at the sky. Azula was never much for gazing at the sky and she is standing, bored, on the ship. She is on her way back from a miserable failure with the drill and is not in the mood to discuss the _sky_._

_ "Do I look like the kind of person who cares about that?" Azula replies airily, cocking an eyebrow. Ty Lee purses her lips and looks embarrassed._

_ Azula regrets it, but she simply shrugs. She won't show weakness._

Ozai moves towards the scene as Ty Lee is about to dig a thumb into Azula's shoulder. He tosses the acrobat onto the ground with ease as Aang rises from the depths, distracted momentarily by helping Katara, who was burned by the Fire Lord. Azula is amazed at the... teamwork. The way they care about each other. Nobody would do that for her.

"Don't touch my daughter," Ozai growls and Azula notices what is happening a little too late. Her father summons a fist of flame. Ty Lee flinches, sweat dripping down her nose.

And then Ozai falls, screaming. Hit by lightning. The Avatar and his friends are silenced, Aang glancing over his shoulder. The Avatar moves to finish the fight as a strange and vivid feeling of liberation surges through Azula's veins. Mai drops the blade she has drawn.

"Don't touch my girlfriend."

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><p>Next up: "fever" prompted by Koka Kola Veins<p> 


	6. Fever

A/N: Alright, I got the ball rolling and posted 5 drabbles in two days. I mostly wanted to have a few out there to get things started and to give a good sampling when I'm, y'know, begging for prompts. Now expect one drabble a day, as I did with _Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit_. They'll be posted between 3:00 am and 10:00 am EST (most likely), every day.

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><p><em>(Theme Six) <em>**Fever**

_(Prompted by) _**Koka Kola Veins**

"I feel terrible," is what Ty Lee wakes up to.

_Azula is sick. No, no, Azula is not sick._

"I'm sure it's just hot out..." Ty Lee offers, turning her palms up and smiling. But it is like an inexperienced fortune teller trying to help the cougar-lion tamers at the circus. Futile, and probably will end with a maiming.

"I am definitely sick. Just listen to my voice. _Feel _my body. I am sick." Azula's hand collides softly with Ty Lee's face. Her palm is clammy and feverish and Ty Lee stifles a cough. _Oh_, she is getting it too, isn't she?

"Okay, maybe you're sick," Ty Lee says slowly, peeling Azula's hand off of her. She examines her wife nervously, looking at her slightly ajar rosy lips and half closed golden eyes.

"Just kill me," Azula groans loudly, her voice constricted with mucus, and Ty Lee can only think, _so it begins_, before regretting her thoughts. She should not think such terrible things about the tormented, beautiful woman she married. "Burn me alive; it will be more merciful than this."

"I don't think you _can _burn alive, Azula," Ty Lee says hesitantly, her voice a timid squeak.

"Ugh, then behead me, see if I care," Azula snarls, a slight glint of malice in her tired eyes. "Now, as I said, Ty Lee, I feel _terrible_. Do something about it. And none of your weird Earth Kingdom peasant _witch doctor _nonsense."

"There weren't any witch doctors on Kyoshi Is─"

"Sh." A finger misses Ty Lee's lips, Azula's eyes closed. Her pointed claws nearly scratch Ty Lee's neck, but her arm flops down weakly on the plush red mattress. "Find me medicine. And new clothes. And... a towel. Some tea with honey? No... not honey. Sugar. Refined sugar─"

"I'm not going to remember any more than that," Ty Lee says, her neck bones protruding with her grimace. "I'll start with the clothes."

_I'm not your servant_, Ty Lee thinks behind her glittering white smile. But she loves Princess Azula, even when she is sick. _In sickness and in health is the greatest scam..._

There is a high chance that Azula will not like the clothes Ty Lee picks out, but she tries to find something reasonable, and digs it out of the drawers. She kicks them shut with the tip of her toes and walks to Azula. She sets the dress on Azula's concave abdomen. Azula raises an eyebrow as if this is ridiculous.

"Are you going to ask me to put your clothes on you?" Ty Lee asks, trying to remain as positive as possible.

"How am I going to do this myself?" Azula says in the most regal tone Ty Lee has ever heard. "I'm violently ill."

_You have a cold, _Ty Lee wants to say, but she holds her tongue and starts helping Azula into her dress. She firmly believes the princess is intentionally making this difficult by keeping her body as limp as possible. _She just uses illness to get attention because her father neglected her... you've been there before, Ty Lee..._

"Are you trying to make this ─ don't kiss me; you'll infect me!" Ty Lee nearly drops the princess, who somehow manages to catch herself, and Azula smoothes out her dress and sits back down on the bed.

"You're going to get this sick anyway," Azula says, her voice sounding as if she has been gargling nails, shrugging lightly. "Now that tea...?"

"I think we need to have a negotiation," Ty Lee says, crossing her arms tightly over her chest.

"Over what? My tea and medicine? You wouldn't let your own wife _die _of a fever, would you?" Azula says bitterly, each word like a dagger. Ty Lee can only grit her teeth. It is like living in a melodrama by the Ember Island Players some days with Princess Azula.

"When I'm sick; you're going to wait on me hand and foot like this. Promise me that, and I'll make you your tea."

"I suppose I can make an exception for you," Azula says with a loud, pointed sigh.

Ty Lee kisses Azula on her lips. Their tongues intertwine and Ty Lee can almost feel the illness seeping into her body.

Azula better keep that promise.

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><p>AN: Next up, "Childhood Sweethearts" as prompted by A Kingdom of Isolation


	7. Childhood Sweethearts

A/N: Sorry for double alerts. When I clicked to check if this chapter updated, it said I was using an outdated URL and gave me an error message. So I'm just redoing it and hoping that solves the problem.

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><p><em>(Theme Seven) <em>**Childhood Sweethearts**

_(Prompted by) _**A Kingdom of Isolation**

Azula stole Ty Lee's heart and she stole her eyeliner.

The make-up goes mysteriously missing and Ty Lee pretends she has no idea where it went. Her mother told her she was too young for make-up anyway. She wore it to school and suddenly everybody noticed her even more than usual, so, of course, it would go missing like the pink bow and the nail polish. Anything out of the ordinary or spectacular would disappear from Ty Lee's life. Except for one very unique, very spectacular human person.

"If you make me ask him out for you, you will not be pleased with the results," Mai sighs, her elbow propped on the table and her chin resting in her pallid hand. "Do you look at me and think, _people person_?"

"Well, _I'm _not going to do it," Ty Lee replies to Mai, her hands shaking. She squints at the object of her childhood affections: the son of one of their teachers, older, training for the military.

They are eleven. The age of first crushes and missing eyeliner.

"Okay, Ty Lee, if he says yes he is some kind of terrifying pervert. He's sixteen or something," Mai continue, as if reading off of a numbered list. Ty Lee groans and kicks the floor, her uniform shoes making a scuffing sound on the cold stone.

"I only like _two people _and I have the best chance of dating him," Ty Lee whines, looking on the verge of tears.

Pause. Mai raises an eyebrow. "You didn't tell me you liked two people."

"It's none of your business anyway, Mai," Ty Lee says sharply, frowning.

Mai sighs. It is way too early for this. Azula isn't even here yet.

"Just tell me. I told you I liked Zuko... to the result of endless ridicule..." Mai rolls her eyes and toys with her incredibly boring textbook.

Ty Lee exhales slowly. "Alright. I'll tell you who I like, but you have to promise not to tell _ever_."

"I know, I know, standard rules of who you _like_. Just go on," Mai says, already bored.

"It's a little weird," Ty Lee begins and Mai sighs. Like pulling teeth with this girl. "It's a girl." Suddenly, Mai is much more interested. Then terrified; so help her, if Ty Lee _likes _her she might have to run away. "And she─"

"Tell me what you two are talking about," says a domineering voice from behind them and Ty Lee jumps about two feet in shock. "Go on."

"Boys and make-up and, hi, good morning, princess, I was just waiting for you to get here," stammers Ty Lee, her eyes rotund and hopeful.

Mai smirks.

_Oh._ And Ty Lee is in love with Azula. Which is... kind of disturbing. Also cute. Mostly creepy. Mai doesn't really know what to make of it.

"Mai, what were you two talking about?" Azula asks and Ty Lee looks like she is about to vomit.

She _likes _Azula bad.

"I wasn't paying enough attention to her to tell you, princess," Mai says hesitantly and Azula catches her winking at Ty Lee.

Azula sits down between her two best friends, sighing regally, and drops her textbook on Mai's hand... accidentally.

"If you say so," Azula says as Mai rubs her hand, wincing.

Ty Lee is bright red. Mai grits her teeth.

_You owe me, _Mai's eyes say.

* * *

><p>AN: Next up - "Pompeii" by Bastille as prompted by FanfictionVillainess


	8. Pompeii

A/N: This one takes place during Restraint but you don't have to read Restraint to understand it. It's kind of an outtake from Restraint, almost.

Sidenote - we're at 34 prompts on my prompt list. Thank you everyone :) The response to these drabbles makes me so happy.

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><p><em>(Theme Eight) <em>**"Pompeii" - Bastille**

_(Prompted by) _**FanfictionVillainess**

"If you close your eyes, it's kind of like nothing changed," Ty Lee says blithely, her eyes squeezed shut.

Princess Azula does not respond, nor does she close her eyes. She never did when she was told to, not when her father took her to executions, not when teachers told her to do it, not... not even for the only person who seems to want to talk to her anymore.

It smells of Earth Kingdom summer; rot, decay and the stench of an overdeveloped city. Azula is repulsed by the fact that she has to go to Ba Sing Se to stay with her uncle, by her _mother _and her _brother _and their stupid faces at the breakfast table.

"It looks pretty different to me, Ty Lee," Azula says airily, carelessly, trying to restore some of her former dignity with a barbed tongue. The Princess crosses her arms over her chest. She gazes at the walls, shoddily built in comparison to what was there before. And she is on the inside this time, dressed in clothes that don't fit and being led about by a circus freak and a disgraced general.

"It looks different because your eyes are open, princess," Ty Lee responds overly sweetly, rubbing her thumb around Azula's palm. She is finding it hard to stay optimistic about this.

Azula grits her teeth and lets Ty Lee rub her hand and hold it. If this is what the people want, this is what they will get. Princess Azula shamefully hiding in this _disgusting _city. Mother will pay... eventually.

_And the walls came tumbling down. Azula feels entirely responsible, as she watches her new pets tear down the rings of Ba Sing Se. The ground shakes with the force and the air smells disgusting from the crushed dirt, dust, stone and age. It took uncle six hundred days to even breach the wall; it took Azula a week._

_Mai looks incredibly unimpressed by the sight. But Ty Lee reaches her hand over and intertwines her fingers with Azula. It is in this city that they kindled their fledging love, and Ty Lee can't help but feel that the crashing walls are a symbol of breaking down some of the walls around Princess Azula._

_ And for the first time, Azula does not slip her fingers away._

Ty Lee guides Azula through the city, their hands locked together.

It almost feels like nothing changed at all.

* * *

><p>AN: Next up - Slave!Ty Lee AU, as prompted by Guest


	9. Three Words

A/N: Azula feels OOC in this one. I wanted it to have the plot of Azula not wanting to say "I love you," which turned into the fact that her actually saying "I love you" feels OOC. I tried to tweak it but just settled for it. It also is over 800 words, which is way too long for a drabble. But, eh, I hope people enjoy it anyway.

We're at 40 prompts now, 41 if we count the 100th, which I've already written with my own idea. Thank you, everyone. Don't hesitate to make suggestions.

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><p><em>(Theme Nine) <em>**Three Words **(slave Ty Lee AU)

_(Prompted by) _**Guest**

Just one look from golden eyes was enough to seal Ty Lee's future. And that one stolen kiss was a particularly vicious form of torture. But what was dark and twisted blossomed into a beautiful forbidden love that made the princess glow to such a peculiar level that people wondered if they should ask.

A slave entertainer and a princess is not a pairing that is meant to be. Azula knows it is not, knows she should focus on securing the throne and not pursuing forbidden romantic interests. Then again, no matter how much she tries to embody lightning, embody the cold-blooded fire, and to be a weapon of war and the ideal crown princess... she is a sixteen year old girl.

It took surprisingly long for Fire Lord Ozai to discover his daughter's affair. He never understood her; he never bothered to understand her. But he did not want her touching his slave.

Azula moves through the palace like a shadow, light on her feet as any firebender would be. She inhales slowly, filling her lungs with the sickening aroma of dusk and archaic incense. Every night she burns as she slips to a secret meeting place. Beneath the branches of the ash white trees with ruby petals in place of leaves, that blow through the wind, sticking in her hair.

The pale moonlight illuminates her skin, her red mouth glittering as she sees that the object of her affections is already there. She wouldn't say she loves her, refuses to say she loves her. Azula attempts to deal with the conflicted emotions by casting them aside and focusing instead on being cold and strong.

_It would be too human of her to love._

It almost amuses Ty Lee that Princess Azula tries to disguise the fact that she is in love. The entertainer does not hide it, she is irrevocably bound to the princess in more than slavery. But Azula tries to act like her heart of stone is unscathed.

_"You always put on shackles a little too tight," the Fire Lord says to his daughter, pointedly after uncovering his daughter's activities, "because then, when they twist their wrists, it hurts a little. They never forget that they're slaves."_

_ Azula does not respond._

Their lips meet once, twice, three times. Finally, they fall into a longer kiss, passionate, and concealed. Azula's heart beats and Ty Lee can feel it raging like the pulsing sun. They hold onto each other away from the eyes of others, hidden in bushes like peasant teenagers getting laid.

And Ty Lee continues with, "I thought you wouldn't come."

"Why?" Azula asks a little too sharply. The protuberant eyes of the slave girl glitter, her lips small, her face wounded. And Azula does not apologize, but she touches Ty Lee's hand lightly.

"Your father said you wouldn't." Silence. Swallow. Azula shrugs. "Happy birthday, princess."

"What else did my father say?" Azula demands, eyes flashing bright and bold. _Rage._

Ty Lee swallows. She was hoping the volatile Princess Azula would pay more attention to the comment about her birthday and not her father.

"Nothing," Ty Lee murmurs, attempting to kiss Azula again. But the princess slips away. _Hurt_.

"Did you tell him about us?" Azula asks icily, her fingers digging into the damp grass and mud.

"Of course not." Her voice is small, as if in a box.

Azula starts to stand up and Ty Lee grabs her. She half expects to be burnt, but Azula does not move.

"What are you doing?" Ty Lee murmurs, tugging on her slightly.

"I'm going to kill him. I told you I would kill him if he ever tried to pry us apart."

And Ty Lee pulls her down into a second kiss. Her fingers slip across Azula's skin, breathing her in, like breathing in ash and smoke, like breathing underwater.

"You know you don't want to do that. You love your father," Ty Lee whispers into Azula's neck.

Azula is silent. She does not know if she loves him, but she knows that she loves Ty Lee.

"Are you trying to trap me into saying that I love you?" Azula murmurs mockingly with a wicked smirk. The mood changes almost entirely and Ty Lee is startled by it. For someone so smooth and calculated, Azula can be violently unpredictable.

"Maybe," Ty Lee lies, leaning against the tree.

"It's not going to work." Kiss.

"I wouldn't expect you to tell a slave you loved her."

Azula is silent. "It has nothing to do with that. I just don't love things by principle," she says, trying to sound airy and cavalier.

"Things. I'm a thing." She sounds so... sure of it and it disgusts Azula. Her father warps everything he touches. Everyone he touches.

The princess doesn't know what to say. She can't lose, she can't give in and admit that she...

"Iloveyou," Azula says quickly, the words forced out without her usual fluid, purring tone of smug haughtiness.

Ty Lee only smiles.


	10. Don't you knock?

A/N: Wow, 11 reviews in 2 hours. I don't think even Restraint ever had that happen. So, in response to that; here, everyone, have another. This one is my personal favorite so far.

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><p><em>(Theme 10) <em>**"Don't you knock?" **

_(As prompted by) _**GuitarBOSS**

Ba Sing Se has fallen, and Zuko is delving deeper into the ship to evade all the scrutinizing eyes. The people _congratulating _him, of all things.

Zuko is feeling ill. He told the crew, Mai and most of the royal processions that he is _seasick_. Seasick. They all believed that, even after he was _at sea perpetually _for three years. Not to mention floating on a piece of driftwood endlessly with Uncle after the North Pole, only to be greeted by ─

"Azula?"

He says it in the exact same tone as he would when she is executing a surprise attack. Which, in Uncle's words, would not be so surprising. But this, this is much more shocking, as she is tangled, and mostly naked, pressed against a wall, halfway on a bed, with... with Ty Lee. Their tongues are in each other's mouths and Zuko is now a witness.

"Don't you knock?" Azula shrieks in such a shrill tone that it nearly shatters Zuko's eardrums. He tries to shut the door, accidentally shuts it on his foot, and it bounces open as he curses under his breath.

"Don't you lock?" is his breathless reply, golden eyes wide.

"_Don't I lock_? Oh, how very funny!" Azula exclaims, eyebrows nearly touching her raven hair.

"I thought it was kind of funny─"

"Shut up, Ty Lee," Azula snaps and the girl is silenced, lips squeezed tightly together and looking as if she has just had something thrown at her. Zuko's heart is racing at the speed of light as he wonders what he should do in this situation.

"I won't tell anyone, I swear. Don't do anything you would regret," Zuko stammers, trying to fade into the fabric of time itself. Despite being a foot taller and one hundred pounds of muscle larger than his sister, as she stands up, pulling up on the strap of her bra, he takes several steps backwards.

She holds up two fingers, mimes striking him with lightning pointedly as he flinches, then shuts the door.

After a brief pause, Zuko hears the click of the lock.

Prince Zuko, recently restored to Crown Prince Zuko, takes a deep breath. He just saw much more of his sister than he would have liked, and he moves with preternatural speed down the hall.

Slumped against the wall in the deserted kitchen, he breathes a sigh of relief.

Well... that was interesting.

Apparently Azula is...

"Still seasick, Zuko?" Mai asks dryly from behind, and Zuko can only stare at her with his lips slightly ajar.

"Uh, yeah."


	11. Proposal Part I

So, as I'm at 50 prompts and only 1/10 of the way through the story, if prompts/suggestions can be blended, I'm going to blend them into a drabble that fits both prompts. Some will get their own, some will be blended, but I promise I will try to put your idea into a drabble. If I really overfill, I might wind up making a sequel; I'm not sure yet, as it's still early.

This is part one of two. I'll post the next part after 1 hour, because it got far beyond drabble length.

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><p><em>(Theme Eleven) <em>**Proposal Part I**

_(As prompted by_) **BabydollEyelashes & GuitarBOSS**

It is early morning, Azula has just finished her dawn training, and she is now settling down to attempt to eat. But her stomach feels as if she is about to vomit, as it has for the four days leading up to the Fire Festival. Because Uncle visits from Ba Sing Se ─ he is already here making loud noises in the kitchen, as if he is a particularly uncouth servant ─ and a variety of others will be showing up.

Like Ty Lee.

And Azula is trying to figure out exactly the right thing to say to win her over. This will be the most challenging of all of her negotiations, and even her inexhaustible wit is proving useless.

Azula convinced the Earth Kingdom to _give _her Ba Sing Se. She has coerced nearly every brilliant military mind. But... asking someone to marry her is making her draw a blank. It makes her want to burn down buildings, but instead, she is trying to hide it.

"Azula, I don't like that look on your face," Mai says, cocking an eyebrow. "You look like you're conniving. I sleep with _multiple _knives."

"I'm not going to murder you and Zuko in your sleep. Unless you keep making comments like that, of course," Azula replies sharply, looking far from amused.

Mai sighs and does not respond. It is a bright morning, Azula is still dressed in training clothes, her clavicle exposed from the fabric that hangs loosely around her slender body. Her golden eyes are focused intently on the wall, her pupils lost in her thoughts. And Mai is peeling apart an orange with a knife with impressive dexterity.

"I finished the tea," says a loud, confident voice and Azula jumps and flinches. Mai hides her smirk behind a slice of her fruit. Former General Iroh walks into the dining room, which is hosting the two beautiful royals and an assortment of breakfast foods that they are barely touching.

"Was that statement really necessary enough to interrupt me?" Azula murmurs, half to herself.

"So you _are _conniving," Mai says, leaning in so close that Azula can smell the oranges on her breath. She raises her eyebrow again and Azula fights the urge to singe it off. "Come on, tell us."

Before Azula can respond with an icy, snide remark, Iroh interrupts with, "Her girlfriend is visiting today, Mai."

Mai cannot hide her smirk this time. Azula pushes her feebly, a weak shove and Mai starts laughing. Iroh smiles too warmly, much to Azula's disgust, and pours them both mint tea. The aroma is strong and Azula hates to admit that it is pleasant.

"Your girlfriend is visiting, Azula?" Mai laughs and Azula pointedly looks away. "That's... I don't even know what to say about that."

"Uncle, you have no right to─ "

"May I say that I think your relationship is a beautiful thing," Iroh says with a warm smile and Azula rolls her eyes and slumps in her chair with the grace and poise of a twelve year old being lectured by their parents. "She makes you glow."

"I am not _glowing_, uncle. I think you're just developing cataracts from old age."

Iroh ignores her, which simply seems to enrage her more. "You both are a beautiful, and clearly care for each other deeply."

"Maybe... glaucoma. Definitely worse than cataracts," Azula says sharply and sweetly, like a dagger dipped in honey. Mai sucks in a deep breath to keep from laughing at the absurdity of this breakfast.

Azula sighs and wonders if she should simply get up and leave. Uncle is sitting down calmly, pouring himself a cup of tea.

"So what are you conniving, Azula?" Mai asks, trying to change the subject.

"I told you not to invade my privacy, and I would appreciate it if you listened," Azula snaps, crossing her arms and glaring at her breakfast. She feels as if they are ripping her open and vivisecting her and it is utterly disgusting.

"Ah, I see," Uncle says as if he can read her mind. That is _Azula's _talent, not his. "You have an important question for her, don't you?"

"You're getting more and more senile every day Uncle." Azula shoves her plate across the table and stands up pointedly. Mai notices she is shaking, but is too busy watching the scene to say anything. "It's a wonder we don't just lock you up somewhere nice for you to die in peace."

Mai makes a choking sound and Azula flashes her a gilded glare.

"These accusations of me loving her are greatly exaggerated," Azula continues as she starts to walk away. "I mean, what reason would I have to _love _her, Uncle?"

"One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving," Uncle says and Azula rolls her eyes again. "Keep that in mind."

"More infinite wisdom from the Nation's greatest failure," Azula says airily before haughtily sighing and abandoning her breakfast.

She returns to her bedroom, sighing again and lying on the bed. Across from her is a betrothal bracelet, golden, forged in hot fire. Metal wrapped around your wrist to signify you're getting married. Like shackles.

How disturbingly fitting.

This _love _accusation is preposterous. Azula just has the feeling of her ribs being torn open and someone being inside of her, just messing up her insides. And apparently marriage must be the solution to this kind of injury, that hurts far worse than snapped bones and burnt ankles.

This _better _work out tonight.


	12. Proposal Part II

_(Theme Twelve) _**Proposal Part II**

_(as prompted by) _**BabydollEyelashes & GuitarBOSS**

That night, Azula is forced to attend the Nation's favorite festival. It is not necessarily _terrible_. Not as bad as it was when she was a child. At least now she can drink and fade into the shadows, instead of being forced to stand up, look pretty and look perfect. Dolled up like her father's bauble to show off the little princess.

Azula has yet to think of her perfect speech, the exact words that will win this battle. It is driving her mad as she leans over the edge of a bridge, she and her girlfriend slipping away from the loud festival. The fireworks have been blasting incessantly for an hour now, almost since sunset.

"It's a really nice night," Ty Lee says brightly, squinting at the water rushing below. It is stained red from the confetti.

"It's not _dreadful_," Azula replies and mentally flinches. _Try to be romantic, princess. Because they taught you how to be romantic when teaching you how to win wars..._

"You look kinda, uh, sick. Do you want to go home?" Ty Lee asks, slipping her arm around Azula's waist. And a feeling like electricity surges through her. Some sick combination of happiness and arousal and she wants to _crush_ it.

"I want to ask you something," Azula says, relieved her speech is remaining smooth and cold, like the water below the bridge they stand on.

"Okay!" She sounds far too excited. If this goes downhill...

Azula cannot find the right words, and they are far overdue.

Years of training in _saying the right thing_. Incessant lessons. Practice. Sweat dripping from Long Feng's forehead. Princess Azula can ask someone to marry her. This is _not _so difficult. Come on.

"Uh, Azula?" and a hand is being waved in front of her eyes. Azula blinks three times, dizzy, and clears her throat.

"I..." Azula pauses. "Are you cold?"

_No_. She feels totally ridiculous.

"Oh, I, uh..." Ty Lee looks somewhat disappointed. Azula's heart speeds up significantly as she wonders if someone guessed Azula's intentions and _told _the Kyoshi Warrior. "A little?"

"Maybe we should go somewhere warmer," Azula says, as if it is a command, though she is berating herself internally.

"Okay," Ty Lee says, turning her palms up and grinning.

She voraciously seizes Azula's hand and starts walking with her through the streets, towards the quaint shops now decorated with paper lanterns that burn bright and smell strongly of incense. Masks of spirits and so many performers that walking anywhere is a hazard of your hair catching ablaze.

"The festival is beautiful," Ty Lee remarks as they stand near a fire. It is certainly warmer and Azula is regretting her stupid lie. Now she glitters with sweat and feels even queasier. But she does not show it; her face is stony and haughty, looking down her nose ever so slightly at the peasants around her. "But not as beautiful as _you_."

See, why can't Azula say things like that? Why?

"I know," Azula replies before feeling twice as ridiculous. This night is not going as well as she planned. The metal bracelet in her dress pocket presses against her hip, now heated metal searing into her as a reminder of her purpose.

"That street performer is really good."

"His form is all wrong." _Internal cringe_. Romance! Ugh.

"I wouldn't know." Ty Lee shrugs lightly. She now has developed a perpetual look of concern on her delicate features. "I'm less cold now."

Azula takes a deep breath. She has to do this eventually, and she might as well attempt it.

"That's good. I don't want you to be cold." Was that romantic? She doesn't know anymore.

"You don't have to say anything, Azula." Lips press against hers. Azula sinks into it, relieved.

But when the kiss breaks, Azula says, "I have to say something."

"Okay." Ty Lee's protuberant eyes sparkle with fear. Azula would usually like such a thing, but right now she wishes this were easier.

"I was trying to think of something romantic to say. About how I _love _you, or _why _I love you. But to be honest, I couldn't think of any." Pause. Ty Lee looks wounded. How could this be going so wrong? Azula thinks as quickly as she possibly can and frantically settles on, "I love you because, I love you. There's no reason needed for loving."

Reciting Uncle's senile wisdom seems like the worst possible option, yet Azula is beyond desperate at this point. But, to her utter shock, Ty Lee grins and kisses her again.

"That is only the _most _romantic thing I have ever heard!"

"Oh, well, I thought of it myself. Just for you," Azula says smoothly, finally back on her game. She feels a rush; not quite a _destroying Ba Sing Se _rush, but a rush at that. "I didn't want to ask you if you were cold. I wanted to ask if you would marry me."

Pause. Azula reaches into her pocket and holds out the bracelet feebly. Ty Lee stares at her blankly, with a face of a baffled kitten. No...

"Yes! Of course!" And she jumps into Azula's arms, nearly knocking her into the fire.

_Victory is sweet_.


	13. Jealous Glances

A/N: I got a lot of questions about if there will be a wedding drabble. There will, but it's drabble 50 because I felt like it would be a good halfway point.

Also this prompt I only got today when I woke up, but I couldn't help but write it and bump the rest of the huge list back a little. It couldn't not be written.

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><p><em>(Theme Thirteen) <em>**Jealous Glances**

_(Prompted by_) **swanqueenallday**

"You know," Mai says, sitting very close to Azula, "She only flirts with those guys to make you jealous."

They are at a party celebrating the victory over Ba Sing Se. Zuko has been squirming in the spotlight, and Azula has been brushed aside after attracting too much attention. _Making Zuko _uncomfortable, father had said with almost a wink. Perhaps a wink; Azula could not tell.

She and Mai are in the corner, watching Ty Lee dance with about five horny soldiers.

"So it would seem," Azula replies halfheartedly, her lip curled into a small snarl Mai doubts she notices.

"Just look. She glances over at you every five seconds when she's hitting on that Water peasant, and on Ember Island she was just _begging _you to─"

"I don't want to have sex with you, Mai," Azula replies calmly, averting her eyes from the scene Ty Lee is making. They are, of course, off to the side at the stuffy victory party.

"What? What kind of answer is that?" Mai looks genuinely bewildered and Azula is amazed that she made such a distinct facial expression.

"You're constantly just trying to tear down Ty Lee. Acting like she's trying to make me jealous all the time. _You're _jealous, Mai, I understand. I mean, if you _really _want to, perhaps we─ "

"I _love _Zuko, Azula. I don't want to ─ I can't ─ why would you come to that conclusion?" Mai's lips are parted in shock as she stares at her disinterested best friend.

"You're protesting an awful lot," Azula replies with a pointed yawn.

"I was just saying that _maybe _you should ask her out and she would stop doing that." Mai is already regretting getting involved.

"She's obviously interested in boys, and those other than me. _You're _the one sitting here with your hand on my knee. I mean, Mai, think clearly now." Azula's snarl turns into a satisfied smirk.

"I hate you." Mai's hand shoots away from Azula as if her leg were on fire. "But look, she looks at you and she _wants _you to be jealous because you never seal the deal with her. You always just leave her hanging and she's trying to push you to the point that you walk over there and punch all those men in the face and just ravage her or something."

Silence. Azula cocks an eyebrow. "I feel as if my father might frown upon that course of action."

But she watches the scene and _does _notice the occasional glances.

_Look at me, look at me, these boys could be you..._

Perhaps Mai is right.


	14. Surprise on a Vacation

A/N: I had the prompt vacation, and the prompt surprise, and the logical solution should have involved a surprise trip to Ember Island... but instead, well, South Pole.

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><p><em>(Theme Fourteen) <em>**Surprise on a Vacation **

_(As prompted by_) **Koka Kola Veins & Clueless**

"Surprise!"

And with that word, Azula is hit in the stomach by something very hard and very cold that explodes upon impact with her muscles. She spins around, golden eyes narrowed on whoever had the _gall _to hit her with a snowball. _Ty Lee_. Of course.

Azula hates the South Pole. People keep talking about how much nicer it has gotten, but she cannot fathom how anything could be worse than this. And now, shaking even under the fur parka she feels trapped in, she has been assaulted by a ball of _snow_.

"You want to see a snowball, Ty Lee?" Azula says, reaching down. The acrobat shrugs and grins. "I'll show you a snowball."

"Now?"

"No. No, I'm saving this. For when it will actually be a surprise." And Azula takes the snow in her ridiculous tri-fingered gloves, and slips beneath an icy rooftop.

Azula leans against a wall, exhaling smoke every few breaths to _try _to warm up. But it is freezing and she is about ready to throttle one of the dignitaries. She bites off one of her gloves, juggling the snowball carefully around herself. And with a little, tiny bit of blue fire... melts it into a weapon of ice a waterbender would be jealous of.

_Hitting her with a snowball..._

And so Azula plots and connives, and just after the elaborate dinner with Chief Hakoda and Azula's sniveling brother, Ty Lee is walking with some of her new friends. She makes friends everywhere she goes and it is _repulsive_.

From the perfect position, she plucks up the ball of jagged ice and ─

"Surprise!" shouts Zuko, and Azula hits the snow. Coughing, her tongue suddenly cold, the beautiful snowball of carnage rolls away down the slippery stairs.

"You ruined my snowball of carnage!" Azula is being picked up by the soft hands of her fiancée as she tries to be intimidating while covered in snow and wrapped in a parka. "I will make you pay so hard that your pasty little children owe me debts."

"They'd probably sigh a lot about it," Ty Lee remarks, sniggering. "_There's no fathoming the depths of my hatred for my dad that one time ruining our aunt's snowball _of... what? Of... death?"

"Carnage. Snowball of carnage. I melted it to be bladed, "Azula sighs, but there is no point in explaining herself to these blithering morons. "Well, you both surprised me. I hope you're proud of your accomplishments today."

"I'm going to sleep with the lamps on," Zuko says, smirking. And he is gone.

"It was still pretty surprising, princess," Ty Lee offers feebly. Azula rolls her eyes.

"I hate surprises anyway," Azula admits under her breath.

She presses her lips against her fiancée's, and completely ignores the fact that her tongue tastes like water tribe food.

A snowball hits Azula in the back of the head, sheared in half by her ruby crown.

"Ew, guys, get a room!"

Katara.


	15. Secret, or Outtake from Restraint I

A/N: So, guess what: _Aphelion _comes out in exactly one month. (it is not finished, *looks at calendar and panics*) I have five requests for outtakes from _Restraint_, so this feels like a good time to post one. This one is ever so slightly inspired by _True Romance_.

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><p><em>(Theme Fifteen) <em>**Secret, or Outtake from Restraint I (between Chapters 22 and 23)**

_(as prompted by) _**HeavenBesideYou13**

"I don't understand how you make so many _friends_. One friend is enough for me," Azula says airily, crossing her arms.

It is the terrible trio's second midnight of being best friends again and the wedding is approaching far too fast. Azula sips her wine and tries not to panic about the fact that she is getting married, as Ty Lee is listing all two-hundred-forty guests to Mai, who is starting to drool ever so slightly from boredom.

"Azula, we're friends again," Mai says, looking unimpressed. Or perhaps that is just her face at resting; Azula is feeling... fuzzy.

"No, no, you're my one friend, Mai, of course," Azula says honestly, sipping from an empty glass. She rolls her eyes to accentuate her point.

"Well, then what am I?" Ty Lee demands, her eyebrows shooting up. Azula squints at her.

"We're getting married. We can't be friends anymore," Azula responds, nodding. She takes another sip from the empty glass and Ty Lee knocks it out of her hand. "I was drinking that!"

"We are _best friends_. We are all _best friends _and we will be _until we die_. All three of us," Ty Lee says with such ferocity that Mai is floored.

"It's funny you say that," Mai says, her eyes sparkling in a way that Azula does not like. "Because the reason that you make so many friends is why Azula and I befriended you in the first place."

Azula swallows. Quickly, smoothly and as collectedly as she can, she insists,"This is a very unnecessary story, Mai. We're all a little tipsy and─"

"No, no, Azula, please, Ty Lee should know. You two are getting married." The sadistic pleasure in her amber eyes makes Azula's gut twist. Her first inclination is to light something on fire to create a diversion, but she ultimately decides to face the music. "Azula and I befriended you because we were jealous that you were new at school but became popular so quickly. And so we decided to be your friend."

"That doesn't make much sense..." Ty Lee furrows her brow. Mai smirks for a flicker of a heartbeat. Azula grits her teeth.

"Well, first we asked you to be friends with us. _Then _we destroyed all of your old friendships by spreading rumors about you. And to secure your friendship with us, I bribed and Azula threatened everyone into saying it was your old friends who spread those rumors," Mai explains as Azula looks slightly green. The Fire Lady smirks again.

Ty Lee's lips part in surprise; her eyes glitter and swell with tears.

"We didn't mean to betray you. I just really wanted to be friends with you," Azula lies in sugary tone, crawling across the stone floor and wrapping one arm awkwardly around Ty Lee. Mai suppresses laughter.

"I'm not crying because it was mean," Ty Lee says, resting her head on Azula's shoulder. Mai takes a deep breath, trying to control how humorous she finds this. "It's the most romantic thing I've ever heard."

"What?" Azula asks, raising an eyebrow. Mai bites her lip fiercely.

"You made _that _elaborate of a ruse just to be friends with me! It's the most romantic thing ever!" Ty Lee leans to kiss Azula, misses, and plants her lips firmly on the princess's nose. Azula makes a small, alien choking sound.

"You found your soul mate, princess..." Mai murmurs, finally chuckling.


	16. Kiss, or Outtake from Restraint II

**Warning**: This drabble is one of four outtakes from _Restraint _because I had requests for that. I try to make them so they can stand alone without the fic, and are without major spoilers. But there are references to the fic and all, so *mild* spoilers afoot.

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><p><em>(Theme Sixteen) <em>**Gilded Kisses and Sapphire Stars, or Outtake from Restraint II (During Chapter 37)**

_(As prompted by) _**ice cold desire & beautyandrage**

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><p>In the glow of the lanterns, the thousand stars are overshadowed by earthly fire.<p>

It is _too _pretty, _too _quaint and Azula finds no pleasure in it. Ty Lee's eyes reflect the glowing lights, wide and excited by it. How anything thrills her anymore is startling to Azula who is honestly simply exhausted from caring for a baby who drains the life from her.

"You look nice," Azula attempts as her fingers are interlocked with her wife's.

"Azula," Ty Lee says, her eyes suddenly wide. Azula swallows; she does not know what she could have said wrong. "That was a real compliment! Not a disguised insult!"

"I suppose it was." Azula shrugs. Pretends she does not care. Cools the blush on her cheeks.

She sparkles in the lamplight somehow, tearing Azula apart. It feels oddly liberating to be away from Azusami's clinging and crying. Just set free from a cage and given the opportunity to have a _date_.

"I don't think we've ever had a date that ended very well," Azula murmurs, smirking. She leans against a steel wall, the metal hot against her back. The summer burns with vivacity, the hot night like the heated, feverish kisses of a couple that has been married for three years today.

On the week when the fire lilies bloom.

"You haven't been doing so well lately," Ty Lee says softly, leaning next to Azula as they watch the rich kids play in the brilliantly lit streets. Azula frowns.

_Of course_. Of course this is going to turn into a dissection of her so _fractured _mind. Of her struggles with _motherhood_.

"I don't want to hear it," Azula says sharply, glaring at a kissing teenage couple across the way. "Look, I got you a gift."

Ty Lee is instantly distracted from her attempt to psychoanalyze her wife and her borderline post-partum depression. Azula is immensely grateful that she did not marry the brightest candle in the bunch. Even if she is the shiniest one of the lot.

"Yay!" She claps two hands together as Azula hands her a gilded necklace with a sapphire stone.

Ty Lee likes expensive, useless trinkets. She glows as she clasps it around her neck, the blue stone resting atop her cleavage, on the outside of her red dress with too many bows.

"Good, you like it." Azula knew she would like it, of course.

"Do you remember the kiss after that fight in Ba Sing Se?" Ty Lee murmurs and of course Azula does.

"It was reckless and insane. Not part of my usual repertoire I admit," Azula says with a small smirk. They were just breathing so heavily, and gasping and Azula felt that the only thing she could do was... well...

"It was the kind of kiss that made me know I had never been so happy in my whole life," Ty Lee murmurs, leaning very close.

"Well, isn't that romantic?" Scathing response, of course. Ty Lee rolls her eyes when Azula isn't looking. And cue her dramatic, silvery tone of haughty mockery with, "I did have a compound fracture and three broken ribs, you know? But if my agony pleases you─"

She is met by warm lips against hers. Pressure and fingers clasped around her wrists.

It is the kind of kiss that makes her forget everything that is making her hurt.

Maybe she isn't as happy as she has been in her whole life. Some days Azula is downright miserable.

But it is the kind of kiss that makes everything else disappear.


	17. Cat Ears

A/N: I actually posted part of this as a oneshot at one point, so I'm kind of cheating (then again it was only up for 4 hours before I deleted it). But I added some stuff and changed some stuff. I had the prompt of Azula and Ty Lee getting a pet, and this was just sitting on my Onedrive waiting to be used at this exact moment.

I promise I have two freshly written, never before seen drabbles tomorrow.

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><p><em>(Theme Seventeen) <em>**Cat Ears**

_(as prompted by_) **GuitarBOSS**

Today begins with, "I want a pet."

Azula hears it before her eyes even open in the morning. She was peacefully sleeping, ready to train at daybreak as she always does, and then she heard, _I want a pet_. Not that she did not ever ask her father for a pet, but he always said no.

"I don't," Azula says, yawning. The sun is already up; she is screwed. This is not going to be a pleasant morning. "Pets are a hassle. You can't hire nannies to take care of your pets for you. Let's just have a baby. It sounds easier."

Ty Lee is not deterred. Her protuberant eyes sparkle as she sits with her hands on her knees, making a face like an animal begging for scraps. Well, there is _another _reason not to get a pet; they beg for food.

"Azula! We would be such loving pet parents! A new pet shop opened in the Shopping District," Ty Lee says, batting her eyes pointedly. Azula can only stare blankly. Usually such tactics work on the clever manipulator, strangely, but she is adamant about not having an animal to care for.

"What part of _Princess Azula the Conqueror _sounds like _loving pet parent _to you?" Azula crosses her arms, glancing at the door anxiously. She would do anything to get out of this situation.

"Please just look at the pets." Ty Lee clasps her fingers together. And Azula sighs haughtily.

"If you _insist_, I'll look at the pet store," Azula says, climbing out of bed. She dresses herself and goes to train.

Being Zuko's ward is most unpleasant. The only true fun Azula gets is playing with lightning and burning things by _accident_. He dares not protest, in case _he _is burned by _accident_. And now she has to worry about a pet.

Her father used to buy her pets. And then, after a week or so, give them away. She would simply come home from the Academy and find her pet missing. He always had some ridiculous excuse for doing it. But Azula knew it was simply to control every aspect of her life, and to display to her that he was the one with the power.

Since then, Azula cannot imagine having a pet.

But despite Azula's wishes, she finds herself spending the afternoon in the Capitol City. It is gross, dirty and always looked much better from behind curtains of a palanquin. But she stifles her unrest and walks into the pet store. It smells disgusting, with perfume over the scent of animal trying to mask the scent. The princess wrinkles her nose as Ty Lee grabs her hand and starts dragging her around.

"How about I just wait outside?" Azula offers, squinting at a squirrel-toad. It looks back at her and she recoils.

"Look, a kitty!" Ty Lee grabs a cat and it willingly enters her arms. Azula may be lucky, but she is sure she would get clawed if she did that. "She's so pretty. What's her name?"

Azula at first thinks Ty Lee is asking her, but then she notices that the pet shop owner is following them around.

"Whatever you want it to be, princess. I've just been calling her Ears," the old woman says, her voice gravelly and overly warm. Azula crosses her arms.

"Why _Ears_?" Azula asks scathingly and Ty Lee blushes. The acrobat knows she cannot bring the princess in public without some form of humiliation, but she cannot protest if she wants Azula to get her a cat. This is a _thousand _times worse than asking her _parents _for things.

"She has fluffy ears," the old woman replies, gesturing at the ears on the fluffy white cat. They are quite furry, Azula must admit. Ty Lee pets them and her eyes light up and sparkle.

"Pet the kitty, Azula. Pet her ears; they're so fluffy," Ty Lee says, grinning like a madwoman. Azula frowns and hesitantly reaches out her hand. She strokes the cat's ears and she supposes it feels nice, but the last cat she had that would sleep in her bed and rub against her leg, her father gave to one of his advisor's sons. She never saw it again.

"Yes, she is fluffy but I don't think─" And the cat is forced into her arms. It feels _nice _she supposes.

It digs its claws into Azula's shirt as she tries to give it back to her girlfriend. Ty Lee coos.

"Look she has claws like you, Azula! _Pwease be my mommy_. That's what she's saying!" Ty Lee says in a sing-song voice. This is _terrible_.

Azula examines her own fingernails briefly. She does have claws, doesn't she?

The princess examines the cat's yellow eyes. She sighs.

"Alright, we'll get the cat," Azula sighs, trying to hand Ears back to Ty Lee and finding the claws dug deeper into her. "This horrible, horrible cat."

"You're gonna love it..." Ty Lee squeals.

And... she is right.


	18. Fire Nation Beauty

**Warning: **Some lime in this chapter. It _is _a rose petal bath, after all.

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><p><em>(Theme Eighteen) <em>**Fire Nation Beauty**

_(As prompted by) _**x0xcoffeeandcigarettesx0x**

Azula never liked being submerged in water. It just seems counterintuitive, as a firebender, born from flame, born from dragon fire. But the hot water warms her skin as the scented candles burn and fill the room with a floral scent. She always liked floral and disliked citrus.

The petals stick to her pallid skin. Rose petal baths did not appear to include this kind of _sticking _of the ruby petals plucked from the gardens of the royal palace. She runs her fingertips through the clear water that is stained red like blood.

"This is really nice. We deserve this," Ty Lee says, interrupting Azula's reverie.

"Of course we do. Conquering Ba Sing Se and all." Azula plucks a rose petal off of herself and drops it onto one of the candles.

Ty Lee slips forward in the water, her body speckled in petals and her hair dripping with the hot water. She leans forward and kisses Azula on the lips. It feels quite good, Azula must admit. She is on Azula's lap in the deep bath, water heated by fire, candles glowing a bright blue as Azula seizes control of them to keep from losing control of herself.

Their hands slip over each other, dripping and naked against each other.

"So when are we going to tell people about us?" Ty Lee asks halfway through and Azula's eyes flicker wide.

"After the Invasion," Azula lies quickly. To be honest, she has no idea when she is going to confess what she and Ty Lee have been doing. "We have to at least get through that."

Ty Lee screws up her face in the shadows of blue light, the steam from the bath muddying her thoughts.

"You're embarrassed of this. Ugh, the princess and the circus freak." Ty Lee splashes the water and two of the candles are killed by the motion. Azula swallows, feeling trapped.

She pauses, parting her lips to speak. Ty Lee leans back, the petals peeling from her body in the steamy air. And Azula swallows.

"I'm not embarrassed of this. I could never be," she attempts.

"You are. That's why you won't tell anyone." Ty Lee closes her eyes and pouts, leaning against the porcelain of the bath.

"You think that? I'll prove you wrong." Azula is good at doing things over spite. She gets out of the bath and wraps a ruby towel around herself. "Come on. Come on."

Ty Lee gets up and pulls on Azula's robe. She follows Azula down the hall as Azula punches open the door to Zuko's room.

"Oh, fuck, Azula, we're busy─!"

"Mai, I'm dating Ty Lee!" Azula declares regally, as if announcing an execution.

"You didn't have to break down the door to tell us that," Mai replies, covering her exposed chest with her hands.

"She insisted that everyone know."

Ty Lee blushes and shrinks.

Zuko can only stare. "Wait..." he murmurs. "Why are you covered in flowers?"

* * *

><p>AN: So, I just posted _Eventuality_, the prequel to _Restraint_. It also works as a standalone story too. I was debating posting a new full length fic before I remembered I still hadn't posted _Eventuality_. So, I'm hoping people will read it or whatnot. If not, that's fine.

If you liked _Restraint_, or if you like Tyzula, or Azula, and want Azula to have both a coming of age and romance arc during the series totally read _Eventuality_.


	19. On Freud and Fingernails

A/N: So, if you read my stuff often, you know I'm a fan of Azula redemption. And there's a really good Azula redemption that was posted the other day by BeyondtheSea13 titled _Fate is Cruel_. I don't usually promo stories but I'm blown away by it and if you like Azula fics, you should check it out. After reading this, of course ;)

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><p><em>(Theme Nineteen) <em>**On Freud and Fingernails**

_(As prompted by) _**GuitarBOSS**

Zuko and Azula walk through the hall after a painful audience with former generals demanding _more _compensation. Azula lashed them pretty well, Zuko has to admit, the girl has a tongue like a shirshu. Now, defeated, they walk towards the living quarters of the palace.

"Wait; I hear talking," Azula murmurs, seizing Zuko's muscular arm and forcing them both against a door. It is to a small parlor that was little used when Azula was a child, and is now actually lived in by the royal family.

"We can't just─"

"Shut up about your morality," Azula whispers lightly, pressing her entire slender form against the heavy wooden door. "They're talking about _you_, brother..."

It feels like a trap, but Zuko caves in. Any insight into Mai he is greedy for, which Azula finds absolutely hilarious. They are both pinned against the door, eavesdropping. Azula feels like a little kid listening in on war meetings again.

"Is it normal that he talks about his mother so much after sex?" Mai sighs as Azula sucks in air to keep from laughing. "No, really. It's kind of disturbing."

"Mai, you're the female figure in his life because his mom abandoned him. Just accept it," Ty Lee responds, the smile in her voice audible.

"So... he thinks he's screwing his mom when he's screwing me..." Mai says, accentuating her words with another sigh. "That's not disturbing to you? And he has such low sexual self esteem. Like he always has to ask how he's doing and it just... I don't know... I don't even know."

Azula is shaking with silent giggles as Zuko's face is as red as his scar.

"It's not that bad. Do you at least enjoy yourself?"

"Of course. If I wasn't enjoying sex with him I would be having like ten affairs by now," Mai sighs yet again. "He's not _altogether _disappointing. Just the mom thing ─ _bleck_."

Silence. Azula and Zuko's muscles tense as they hope Mai and Ty Lee aren't about to burst through the door.

"It's not that bad," Ty Lee says sweetly. "Have you seen Azula's fingernails?"

And Zuko smirks. Azula smacks him on the back of the head and he winces.

"Like, I think she thinks it's sexy. But just, just, feel, Mai." Silence. Mai makes a choking sound. "Yeah, just imagine that but longer. It feels like cold talons of death on my tits."

'Cold talons of death' Zuko mouths to Azula and she purses her lips.

"Yet, you love her," Mai says, sounding bored by the fact. "And I love Zuko. Why did we do this? Why did we not see the crazy and escape? Why do we stay up all night with night terrors and deal with insane ordeals and _ugh _Ursa? We should've run for the hills as soon as the war ended."

"Probably. Maybe we just got so used to the insanity that our lives don't feel complete without it," Ty Lee offers blithely and Mai sighs again.

"We are so fucked up." Silence. Mai chortles. "Cold talons of death."

Before Azula and Zuko can react, the door opens. They stumble back several feet as Mai and Ty Lee walk out.

"Oh, you guys are done," Ty Lee says brightly as Mai narrows her eyes.

"What were you two doing?" Mai inquires, crossing her arms.

Zuko's lips open and close for a moment. "Azula! Tell Mai what we were doing."

"Just passing by," Azula says softly, smirking. She wraps her arm around Ty Lee's thin waist and starts walking down the hall. "Oh, but Zuko was eavesdropping on your conversation. I told him not to."

Ty Lee giggles.


	20. Azula is Desensitized to Horror Films

A/N: Modernish AU warning. It basically takes place in the canon Avatar Universe if they had television and lava lamps. Happy horror movie month.

* * *

><p><em>(Theme Twenty) <em>**Azula is Desensitized to Horror Films**

_(As prompted by_) **Streetlight Eyes**

"Oh, Agni!" Ty Lee shrieks, possibly waking the entire palace of servants and royals. "How? Was that ─ they just removed his entire _jaw_!"

Princess Azula and her paramour are situated in Azula's dark bedroom, lit by a ruby lava lamp. The expensive television is playing a gruesome scene where a Fire Nation soldier is being ripped to bits by the overly buff hands of a scarred man dressed in rags. Ty Lee has cried twice already, but is clinging on in hopes of not distressing her date.

What Azula wants, she gets.

"I know. I'm watching. Sh." Azula's lips brush against Ty Lee's, although her golden eyes are still focused on the television screen.

It is a gory slasher about a group of promiscuous Fire Nation teenagers in the colonies who are hunted down by a gruesomely deformed earthbender. When Azula agreed to go on a date with Ty Lee after conquering Ba Sing Se, Ty Lee certainly did not imagine it involving so much _blood _and _guts_. She imagined it more along the line of glowing blue scented candles and maybe some rice wine.

"Azula, I'm too scared," Ty Lee whispers, clamping her hands over her eyes. Azula sighs haughtily. "I can't do this anymore."

"There are thirty minutes left in the movie. That's just enough time for _that _girl to beat the killer and escape. I mean, everyone else is dead already," Azula explains as if speaking to a child or pet. "You made it through the scene where he crushed all of that boy's bones into bits, you can make it through the running and tripping scene."

"How are you not terrified?" Ty Lee wraps herself tightly around Azula's slender form.

"Once you start, it stops being disturbing. Sometimes they aren't gory _enough_," Azula sighs, studying her nails and trying to hide the blush on her cheeks in the glow of the lamp. "I mean, none of this bothers me anymore. I've seen public executions more _exciting_."

Ty Lee buries her face in Azula's shoulder and tries not to hear the labored screams of the last girl. A good Fire Nation nationalist from the homeland, daughter of a decorated admiral and virgin. Of course her traitorous friends were the first to go.

"No, you have to watch. Watch, she's about to burn him alive, Ty Lee," Azula whispers into the ear of her violently shaking girlfriend.

"I can't do it..." Ty Lee keeps her eyes closed tightly as Azula lifts her and positions her to face the scream.

"_And _you missed it," Azula sighs and Ty Lee opens her eyes just to see flames erupting from the last girl's hands and engulfing the howling earthbender. The melting on his flesh is almost as realistic as watching it in real life.

"I didn't miss it! You're a liar, Azula! I'm going to have so many ─ do all faces look like that when they melt? ─ nightmares!" Ty Lee howls, her eyes swelling with tears.

"It's over. Relax; it's over. We'll watch your _Real Housewives of Caldera _or whatever," Azula says faux sweetly, kissing Ty Lee on her trembling lips.

"Would you ever let that terrible killer get me?" Ty Lee asks in a high, seductive tone as the kiss breaks, sitting on Azula's lap.

"Probably not. Although it always has been a dream of mine for all my friends to be murdered and I defeat the killer and get all the glory," Azula says airily and Ty Lee makes a small whimpering sound. "I promise I won't let any rogue earthbenders kill you."

Azula presses the remote and turns on a reality show with two women tearing at each other's hair.

"You know," Azula whispers as Ty Lee gulps and tries to look at the bright colors of the suburban Caldera manor, "I once read that fear and arousal have the same biological reaction."

They fall back onto Azula's crimson bed.


	21. Dare or Dare

**A/N: Due to health reasons I have to put this fic on a temporary hiatus for an amount of time I'm unsure of. If you're curious at all, see the note on my profile. I promise I will be back with more chapters, but for now, fanfiction is impossible for me to continue with my health like this.**

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><p><em>(Theme Twenty-One) <em>**Dare or Dare, or That Time Mai Kissed Ty Lee and Azula Got Jealous**

_(As prompted by_) **LoveandLust**

"We can't play truth or dare," Katara says sharply and Sokka boos at her. But then Katara smirks. "We have to play _dare_."

Katara, Aang and Sokka are currently in the Fire Nation for a visit. Aang is checking up on Princess Azula as her official parole officer, while Katara and Sokka are dealing with Water Tribe business. Azula was doing astoundingly well, in a moderately healthy romantic relationship, and making her brother's life as miserable as she possibly could. All is well, in Aang's opinion.

The room is dimly lit by candles on mounts that are worth more than entire houses. Bottles of liquor are spread about and it feels to Ty Lee like a sleepover party. Which, of course, excites her incredibly. She was the one to suggest truth or dare.

"I've never played truth or dare before. Or, uh, dare," Zuko remarks awkwardly, rubbing his neck. Mai rolls her eyes and sighs loudly.

"Did you grow up _under a rock_?" Mai asks and Sokka starts laughing. "It's not that difficult. We're basically all just going to make-out with each other."

"Wait... what...?" Zuko murmurs, but no one is listening to the Fire Lord anymore.

"But nobody dare Mai to make out with Azula," Ty Lee declares shrilly and Aang raises an eyebrow.

"Why, what happens?" Aang asks, leaning forward curiously. This has been a _most _enlightening trip to the Fire Nation.

"Well, Azula's just _too much tongue _and Mai is _too little tongue _and it's just disappointing to watch," Ty Lee explains blithely and Azula makes a choking sound.

"I am not _too much tongue_," Azula says and Katara guffaws. "Mai, get over here!"

"I don't have to listen to you," Mai replies flatly, crossing her arms.

"Well, I _dare _you to listen to me," Azula says pointedly. Mai sighs and crawls across the floor.

"We are adults," Zuko says in his best, calm Fire Lord tone, not liking the idea of Mai making out with someone one bit. Or the idea of him making out with anyone here except for his wife. "We are in our twenties. Just because we break out a little alcohol doesn't mean we have to all make out with each other."

"Boooo!" Katara throws her glass at Zuko and he barely catches it. "We deserve a little fun after saving the world every day. Or, uh, whatever it is Azula, Mai and Ty Lee do."

Mai replies, "Make the world a worse place just by existing. Okay, but I get to _dare _you next, princess."

"This is the _best _Fire Nation trip ever," Sokka says, his eyes sparkling with happy tears.

"Booo, you too," Katara says, punctuating her jeer with a glare at her brother.

"Alright, get over here and kiss Ty Lee to show her that I'm a way better kisser than everyone else," Azula says, pointing her thumb at her girlfriend.

"That wasn't what I was expecting," Mai sighs as Ty Lee's lips part in surprise.

"Azula, I'm not going to─" Ty Lee stammers, breaking out into a sweat. Her girlfriend is of the jealous type.

"No, Azula dared you," Sokka interrupts forcefully, holding up one finger. Katara stifles her laughter with one hand. "You have to."

"Thank you, peasant," the princess says, looking down her nose at him. "Go on."

"Alright. I'm doing this," Mai says slowly, slightly breathless. "I'll start, and you just... do whatever it is you do."

Ty Lee stares at the soon-to-be Fire Lady with her eyes incredibly wide. And before she can say anything or protest or declare that they are all too drunk and irresponsible to play _dare_, Mai's lips are on hers. They are surprisingly not cold and clammy.

"We are too old for this," Zuko says, frowning. He never considered himself a jealous or possessive type, but as someone who never had friends to play inappropriate games with, seeing his wife kissing someone else makes his heart beat a little too fast. "Ty Lee, I thought you said she wasn't _enough _tongue!"

Azula laughs. And laughs. Then falls silent with a look of absolute envy. Katara is astounded that the pallid princess doesn't turn leaf green.

"You two can stop now. Stop it! Stop! Obey me!"

Katara simply shakes her head, her stomach sore from laughter as Azula tugs futilely on Mai's waist.

* * *

><p>AN: So, my fic _Ash and Petals _has just gone from a short little ficlet into a legitimate epic Tyzula-centric Azula redemption. I'm really pouring my heart and soul into writing the new chapters and if you're in need of reading material, check it out. *hopeful eyes* And if you tried it before and disliked it, some changes have been made that I think have improved it greatly. *more hopeful eyes*


	22. Hormones

A/N: Hey, I'm back. If you want the story I have a link on my profile. I've read the comics (they're totally amazing) and so they may be included in these drabbles along with the multiple Universes these take place in. Actually, I think all of them will be canon to the comics that aren't taking place during the series. They are so far out of the 32 more I have written.

A final note: this drabble collection now includes oneshots. Some drabbles hit 1k words or more and were by far not drabbles anymore. They now range between 500 words & 1,500 words.

* * *

><p><em>(Theme Twenty-Two) <em>**Hormones**

_(As prompted by) _**ice cold desire**

Azula learns not to be distracted when she takes a fist of flame to the face.

She blocks it and throws the man she is sparring with the ground, gritting her teeth. _Clear your head, clear your head_. Swallow. Most uncomfortable. At least boys and their public boners don't have to explain themselves to the admonishing trainer clucking his tongue in disappointment.

"You can't be distracted," he says, pushing himself off of his chair. He should not be so cocky, seeing as she has beaten him in spars three times and Azula has quickly figured out that he is only there to report back to her father.

There is nothing left to be _trained_. She is fourteen and already textbooks are so obsolete she might as well use them for target practice.

"When you go to Ba Sing Se, things could happen in an instant. Is there something troubling you, princess?" the grey-haired man says in his deep, gravelly voice. Azula scoffs.

"Even if there were something _on my mind_, I would have absolutely _no _reason to confide it in... you. You serve me; you don't ask me questions," Azula says regally, looking him up and down with a snarl on her lips. He is unfazed by her at this point; there apparently is a good deal of training for dealing with Azula, as if she is a particularly dangerous animal. "I won't be distracted again."

She spars with a newfound vigor, pounding one man so hard into a flaming tree that he is rendered to tears and gasps for breath. One comes at her from the side and she catches his arm before he can light a flame. Blocks like her father taught her.

But then that _wave_, as if she has no idea what she is doing to Azula. A grin from across the courtyard and suddenly Azula is back-flipping over fire coming not from her terrified opponents, but from her instructor.

"I need to take a break," Azula snaps before he can comment again.

Old men think they are so wise, having seen battlefields in the Earth Kingdom. They know _nothing _outside of rules, regulations and standards given to them. They see a bad order and they follow it. Azula operates by her own laws. And she is currently breaking them.

_Hormones_. Ugh. _Hormones_.

"Hi, princess," Ty Lee says, sitting down beside Azula.

Mai promised she would be a buffer after Azula explained to her that she feels a whole range of physical states while close and alone with their relatively shallow best friend. Azula would be shocked if Ty Lee notices the dilation of pupils or the slight shift of breath; the kinds of things Azula was trained to observe. That she tries to suppress in herself.

_"I knew you guys wanted to touch each other," was Mai response, her lips twitching for a second._

_ "We _cannot _touch each other," Azula says, looking somewhat nervous. Mai has never seen her in this state before and it is pretty funny. "Just don't let her close to me, alright?"_

_ "Okay. I'll try, but I swear, within the week she is going to be on her knees─"_

_ "I wouldn't finish that sentence if I were you," Azula says, her royal composure restored._

"So, you're taking a break from training?" Ty Lee asks, smiling faintly. Azula looks at her as if she is some kind of freakish spirit. Ty Lee squirms uncomfortably for a moment as Azula seems to be picking apart any motions of her face and... chest.

Briefly, Ty Lee imagines that Azula is looking at her cleavage. She leans down slightly, trying to think of a reason to be doing it. Boys don't ask; Azula would. The test is inconclusive for Ty Lee. Azula looks away as Ty Lee adjusts her ankle bracelet.

_Hormones. _Ugh. _Hormones_.

"Do you want to go get tea or something? Or like some kind of activity?" Ty Lee offers blithely, unsure if Azula notices that her peachy cheeks are as pink as her clothes.

"I would allow you to do some kind of activity with me," Azula says haughtily and Ty Lee purses her lips. Hmm.

Azula has never been this uncomfortable in her life. Ever since she returned from the drill to the Fire Nation to reassess her strategy, there has been this surge of tension that Azula wants to break free from. But it consumes her at night, when she should be going over plans or _sleeping _but instead she is thinking about─

"Oh, I know a fun activity!" Ty Lee interrupts Azula's pensive gaze through the gilded window. She touches Azula's arm and the princess blinks for a little too long. But perhaps Ty Lee is overreaching. "We could go to that new restaurant that _everybody _wants to go to but _nobody _could get a reservation but you could _totally _get us in. Easily. I bet they would even kick all the people out if you asked them."

"That sounds pleasant," Azula says earnestly, although she fears her purring words are too forced.

"Alright, I'll come back tonight when you're done with your royal business or whatever!" Ty Lee chirps, jumping up and trying not to do a dance of victory. Azula still sits there, looking like a statue of a royal instead of a royal whose heart is beating far too fast.

"I'll see you there," Azula says icily, although her insides are melting. These feelings are disgusting and she just wants to_ burn them alive_.

Azula stares in the mirror, internally screaming. She cannot let a few nights of wet dreams escalate into some kind of relationship. This is the first date of her entire life and also the stupidest thing she has ever done. _Love _does not exist. _Sex _is a distraction.

Whatever makes her so desperate for the tongue of her circus freak accomplice is unnerving and should be quenched before it burns out of control. But Azula dresses herself and adjusts her crown. She deems herself appropriate for a _date_.

It is hormones. It is not a crush, or a romance or any _feelings _that could have kindled since they reunited. Hormones. The kinds of things that make you see a glimpse of navel and get horny and they are obstacles to be overcome.

Azula is not very good at coping with her hormones, but she will _conquer _them, just like she _conquers _everything else. Agni, she wants to conquer Ty Lee.

Stop. No. Stop.

She hisses through her teeth and forces herself out of her bedroom. Ty Lee is engaged in conversation with a very uncomfortable looking guard in front of the palace. She looks stunning and Azula feels both jealous and desiring. Azula looks better, of course, but Ty Lee does make a statement.

"We're going to have so much fun," Ty Lee says, tugging on her shirt. Azula does not look and Ty Lee wonders if it is not a date. They never were very clear about it; Azula probably would not know a romantic proposition if it slapped her.

"I'm sure we will," Azula says coldly, but her eyes are glimmering with discomfort.

They walk to palanquins and Ty Lee sees her chance. She helps lift Azula up, although the skin on skin contact makes Azula's eyes flash like they do when she is about to electrocute someone to death.

Ty Lee bends down and... is victorious. Azula _completely _checks out her cleavage.

She grins and Azula blinks too quickly.

"Nice necklace," Azula says breathily.

Ty Lee is not wearing a necklace.

_Victory is sweet_, Ty Lee thinks to herself.

* * *

><p>AN: The next chapter will either be tomorrow or Friday. I don't know how I'll be feeling. I'm also posting the first chapters of two new fics on Friday. Both A:TLA femslash of course. One Tyzula, one Mai/Azula/Ty Lee.


	23. Firebenders Are Hot

_(Theme Twenty-Three) _**Firebenders Are Hot (make-over)**

_(as prompted by) _**beautyandrage**

"That... uh... brings out your eyes," Ty Lee says uncomfortably. If there has ever been an awkward sleepover, it is this one. Azula sits preternaturally still as Ty Lee opens an antique wooden box filled with pricey make-up.

Sometimes Azula looks like a statue... or like a cat about to pounce. It terrifies Ty Lee, who is constantly fidgeting. The room smells like a mixture of their perfumes, and the incense of the palace. It makes Ty Lee's head slightly fuzzy as she tries to analyze Azula's every move. But Azula probably can see directly through her.

"I kind of always do the same thing with them," Azula replies awkwardly, although she is trying to sound normal. But her purring voice is constricted and her alabaster skin sticky with cold sweat and thick make-up.

Azula stands and straightens her back to Ty Lee's relief. She walks to the sparklingly clean yet archaic mirror and examines herself closely. Ty Lee smirks towards the floor as Azula also examines her body, running her fingers over herself, much to her own pleasure. "This is actually nice as disgusting and tacky as eyeshadow is. I mean, I wouldn't walk into a battlefield in it, but maybe a date."

"You would look good and scary no matter what make-up you wore. Are you allowed to wear make-up at war?" Ty Lee asks before biting down on her lip so hard it makes her wince.

Ty Lee closes the make-up box too quickly and regrets it. Azula jumps slightly at the clicking sound and quickly tries to regain her composure. She is overly-beautified and incredibly vulnerable.

The acrobat is overly beautified as well and she sits down on the bed. She considers getting up when she realizes exactly what she has done in this bed four nights ago, but does not want to be too obvious about it. Now she feels trapped and as if she is suffocating, breaking out in a sweat that makes her peachy skin glisten.

Ty Lee did not expect to be sleeping over at Azula's house. She brought make-up and sleepover things, unsure if it was a sexual invitation or not. It is incredibly complicated. Neither of them is quite good at this sort of thing.

"You'd probably look good with your make-up running from sweat and your face splattered in blood." Pause. Azula raises an eyebrow. "I mean, if that happened. I... I'm trying to tell you you're pretty."

Ty Lee's face is as pink as her clothes. Azula looks casually amused.

"I have nice features. But I wouldn't be overshadowed by those earthbending ─ what did you call them? ─ _muscly guys_," Azula asks and Ty Lee senses a little jealousy in her tone. _Victory_.

"Well, firebender bodies are the best," Ty Lee replies, shrugging as if it is obvious. Azula suppresses a smile. "I mean, earthbenders are bulky. Waterbenders are just _no_. Firebenders are just the best looking."

"Waterbenders are just _no_?" Azula asks, smirking.

"Well, they have flexibility. But so do firebenders. But firebenders also have like muscles and stuff." Ty Lee feels her throat closing up as if she is having an allergic reaction. Azula is shaking slightly and trying to keep a blank expression.

"I'm really intrigued by this assessment of the four elements. Tell me more," Azula walks to the bed and sits down very close to Ty Lee. She turns to face Azula and their noses brush against each other.

Ty Lee screams internally.

So does Azula.

Neither of them show it.

"Firebenders are just hot," and then Ty Lee realizes her terrible pun. _No, no, no_. "It must be something in the training."

"Firebenders are hot?" Azula asks, smirking now. _Almost _smiling. "All of them?"

"No, only good ones." Punching herself in the face. Punching herself in the face. She is blushing so hard she feels her face might combust. "I mean, not, like you I mean. I mean ─ _no_!─ I mean you're the best firebender and you're really, um, attractive, but I'm generalizing and, just forget I said that."

She might actually punch herself in the face. But Azula is shaking with silent giggles.

"And you thought you had to teach _me _how to flirt."

Azula presses her lips against Ty Lee's.

* * *

><p>AN: So I posted two new stories. Yay. There's one called Flowers for the Dead which is a Mai/Azula/Ty Lee novel length fic. And one called Impossible Conversations which is a Tyzula redemption with an amnesia twist. If you're in need of reading material, that is. I need to stop promoing these things. I apologize.


	24. Remember the Names

A/N: This could have gone two ways for me. A family dinner, or this. I chose this because it made me giggle. I hope it was the right choice.

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><p><em>(Theme Twenty-Four) <em>**Remember the Names, or a Family Dinner**

_(As prompted by) _**GuitarBOSS**

"Azula," Zuko says forcefully and Azula jumps and stumbles. He catches her by the arm as she waves her other arm for balance. "Clearly up to no good. Don't lie; what are you doing digging through the royal archives?"

"Finding your deepest weakness so I can usurp you," Azula replies, rolling her eyes as she straightens. Zuko grits his teeth. "I'm looking through census data, alright? There's a lot of it."

"Why do you need to look through census data?" Zuko asks with a sigh. He releases her and looks at the stack of crisp papers she has on the sole table in this gigantic room.

The royal archives are expansive, dusty, grim and boring. He has been in here exactly once to read about Sozin. The papers that go _into _here pass through his hands, but he has never had a reason to follow them. Azula winnowing through the papers makes his gut churn. He has given her a chance, which she does not lie down and take.

Therapy, Zuko said. To which Azula replied by utterly destroying three therapists with little more than words. In fact, the example of him trying to get her therapy applies to exactly everything he has done for her since she became his ward. He asks her for something, she follows it, but does it in a way that causes more damage than if he didn't ask in the first place.

But so far she has not tried to kill him yet. That is a plus. And the sleepwalking has stopped which was utterly terrifying.

"You know what you need, Zuko," Azula says, typical diversion tactics, "a girlfriend. I'm sorry but I'm not interested in you."

"This is going to be easier for everyone if you just tell me why you're digging through private records," Zuko sighs, crossing his arms. She narrows her eyes and he can see her weighing her odds. "Please tell me you aren't trying to discredit me somehow. Are you looking up our father's bastard children or something?"

"No. That would not help me discredit you at all." Azula pauses. She shrugs her shoulders and sighs haughtily. "I'm having some kind of family dinner with Ty Lee tonight because of our engagement or whatever and I'm trying to look up her siblings' names."

Zuko tries to hold it together but simply can't. He laughs hysterically, choking on dust as he gasps for breath. She rolls up the paper and hits him in the shoulder with it.

"That is the most..." Zuko coughs three times. Azula frowns bitterly, giving him Ozai's glare. "That is the most pathetic thing... I was so worried that you were doing something so devious and..." He bursts out coughing again. "Just ask her."

"I'm not going to ask her. I've known her for almost twenty years, I'm too far in to ask now," Azula says, looking genuinely exasperated. "She is completely going to break up with me for this. I've addressed them all as _you _for a long time but I don't think I can get away with it for an entire traditional family dinner."

"How long have you not known any of their names?"

"I never learned them." Azula shrugs as if this is normal. "Zuko, I have an idea. Execute all of them tonight so we don't have to worry. I'll forge evidence of their treason or something. I'm desperate."

"I am not going to execute her family." Zuko is trying not to cry from mirth. Azula is not amused.

"It would be an extremely convincing forgery, brother, I promise." Azula bats her eyes at him and Zuko struggles to keep a straight face at the absurdity. "I've already made seven excuses for why I can't have dinner with them. She's not a genius but she's getting suspicious."

Zuko pauses and sighs. "I'll ask someone who will know for you. I mean, someone has to. You don't have to... forge treason for this."

Slowly shaking his head, Zuko gestures towards the door and both siblings exit the archives.


	25. Virginity

A/N: I'm thinking for each quarter there will be a milestone in the relationship. So, for drabble 25, virginity. Drabble 50 is the wedding. I don't know about 75. Drabble 100 is a surprise. That aside, this is hard T. For sexiness. And awkwardness.

* * *

><p><em>(Theme Twenty-Five) <em>**Virginity**

_(As prompted by_) **Guest**

Their lips break apart and the discomfort washes through their bodies like pleasure did before. Ty Lee pulls away from Azula, her fingers sticking slightly to the princess's skin to her absolute terror. Azula wills her toes to pry apart as Ty Lee sits up on the bed and tries not to stare too hard or for too long at Azula's flawless body.

"Are you... alright?" Azula asks slowly, fumbling with her words like she and Ty Lee just fumbled with each other's bodies. Ty Lee has never heard this tone of voice for her. Oh Agni she hopes Azula will go back to normal. If she broke Princess Azula... "I'm just asking because you seem distressed."

They are in Azula's room, which is in a state of disarray it has never been in before. Abandoned on the floor are a variety of trinkets Ty Lee bought and explained to Azula as she pretended to listen. Beside the buyer's remorse is make-up that Azula halfheartedly put on Ty Lee, which is now streaked down her face and flaking off. Azula's blankets, sheets and half of the pillows are scattered about instead of neatly on her bed as she has always insisted, to the ending of several careers.

The two best friends are even more disheveled, lacking their clothes, or, at least, most of them; certain articles were missed, like Ty Lee's jacket and Azula's silk stockings and are still clinging onto their sweaty skin. Behind Azula is her bra, in which her red casual crown is resting in the left cup of.

"I'm alright. I think," Ty Lee says softly, looking dazed.

"That was... interesting. Good... interesting..." Azula says, her face twisting strangely. Ty Lee has never been good at reading Azula. Nobody is, but Ty Lee thinks this is positive. "Very... forceful."

She hopes it is positive.

"Yes. Definitely forceful. Good... forceful," Ty Lee dares to whisper. She is not sure if she should smile or kiss Azula or what. So she just stays very still.

"I have to be honest, this is my first time doing this," Azula says, examining her broken nail. The last time she snapped a nail in half she was using her hands to scale a wall in one of her father's insane training exercises. "I don't know if we did it right. Did we do it right, Ty Lee?"

"I don't know, princess," Ty Lee squeaks, shrugging. She feels suddenly very aware of her nudity. "You know, I'm going to open a window."

"Yes. Do that," Azula says slowly, swallowing far too much saliva.

Ty Lee gets up and opens the window. The air is surprisingly crisp and fresh for late spring. Usually it is already sweltering in this area of the Fire Nation. She leans towards the window, and the starlight makes patterns on her skin. Her hair, completely down and incredibly long, glistens.

Azula lies down on her back and stares at the ceiling.

She does everything right. Right? Right?

"I think we did it right," Ty Lee says, walking back to the bed hesitantly. "I think so."

"How would we know if we didn't?" Azula asks, sounding genuinely distressed.

"Was that bad for you? Did I hurt you? Oh, Azula, no..." Ty Lee suddenly looks like she is going to cry. The melodrama with this girl is painful.

"If it was bad I would have pushed you off of me. Or myself off of you... depending on what point we're talking about," Azula says airily before swallowing. Her heart is beating far too fast. She forgets to breathe for a moment and then takes a shuddering breath.

"Maybe we should ask Mai if we did it right," Ty Lee offers and Azula rolls her eyes.

"That is not happening. We will never hear the end of it."

Silence.

"Maybe we should do it again some time," Ty Lee says feebly, hoping it is not offensive.

"That would not be bad," Azula replies, clearing her throat uncomfortably.

"Definitely not bad." Ty Lee smiles with too much of her teeth.

Silence.

"This is really awkward. We should probably put on our pajamas or something and pretend we're having a sleepover like normal fourteen year old girls," Ty Lee says, squinting out of the window into the crisp, dark night.

"And not losing our virginity." Azula sighs, as if she regrets it, and Ty Lee's fingers tense. She hopes Azula does not regret it. "Yes. Not losing our virginity. Practicing make-up. Or... I don't actually know what girls do at normal sleepovers."

"They don't usually lose their virginity. Together," Ty Lee chirps, offering a weak smile. Azula simply looks at her with a slight pout on her rosy lips.

"I don't think so," Azula replies hesitantly. She slowly sits up. "We're not going to talk about this, are we?"

"No."

"I think we did it right."

"Me too."


	26. We could rule the Universe together

_(Theme Thirty-Two) _**"We could rule the Universe together."**

_(as prompted by) _**xxlunareclipseoftheheartxx**

It is a bright, crisp morning, and Ty Lee is finally settling in to her new job. It is respectable, and only going to last for a few months while she stays in the Fire Nation on mental health leave from the Kyoshi Warriors. Nobody dares to ask exactly what got her into that predicament and Suki's lips are shut.

It has something to do with an ex-girlfriend and a dual mental breakdown that one small island couldn't handle. The sheer force of their breakup was like a tornado spewing out lava and earthquakes.

Ty Lee is working at an upscale boutique, which is _totally _perfect and her parents _totally _disapprove, even more than they did about the Kyoshi Warriors. And she is _totally _good at it.

"You're the best assistant I could ask for," her boss, Emi, says, a thin woman, wife of a retired general. One that Fire Lord Zuko paid off well instead of sending to prison. "You both make people feel bad about themselves, but good enough that they buy things. And thank you for coming in early."

And so begins the perfect day at work. She does not even regret her leave of absence from the Kyoshi Warriors because her apartment near the center of the Caldera is so beautiful and has a _shower_. She missed showers. Maybe she can blame her crazy outburst on that. No showers but tons of mud.

By lunch time she has made three sales and is feeling great about herself. This is going to go so much better than her past four jobs in the Fire Nation.

And then it happens. The absolutely inevitable.

Today. Today of all days.

"How startling to see you here," purrs a voice from the door. "I would have never guessed."

"I would appreciate less _spying on me_, Azula." Ty Lee genuinely feels paranoid of any of the soldiers in the city.

Or in fact, anyone in the city who looks out of place or too interested in her. She one time chi blocked a guy asking her out because she figured he was a spy before she realized he was just some horny guy.

"Spying on you? Absurd," Azula says sweetly, making eye contact with Ty Lee's boss. Emi blinks several times too fast and promptly drops the dress she was tailoring. "I'm just visiting you."

"Princess. Do you need a dress?" Emi asks, walking up far too close for Azula's liking. The look in the princess's golden eyes makes her take several steps back.

"I need two dresses, actually," Azula says and Ty Lee slumps against the wall. Again. _Not again_. "One for her and one for me."

Emi glances between them, only capable of blinking. The soldiers surrounding Azula look uncomfortable, as they always do around Ty Lee. They are a royal guard more meant to keep Azula from hurting others, not people from hurting her.

"Azula, no..." Ty Lee says but Emi is already in the back finding the nicest clothes. _Oh_ she pulls out Ty Lee's absolute favorite that Emi won't let her buy because she is waiting for the perfect customer.

"Azula, yes," Azula replies sharply, examining the dresses. She tosses one haphazardly at Ty Lee and she catches it the way she would block a punch.

"We're taking a break."

"This our fourth break, I believe. I've decided to end it. You've decided to like it," Azula comments, sizing up her dress as Emi looks for others and can only gesture at them wordlessly.

"You two know each other?" Emi finally asks, trying to make small talk as her shaking hands thumb through dresses. She never imagined her assistant was friends with the crazy princess.

"Yes, Emi, meet my off again on again girlfriend who thinks she can do whatever she wants because of the man who pumped her into her mother," Ty Lee explains exasperatedly, trying to hide her smile at her dress.

"Well, I _can _do whatever I want because of the man who... I don't think I can say that without vomiting," Azula says, picking out a dress and sizing it up. She deems it suitable. "Which includes _you_."

"Ugh."

"You're going to enjoy yourself. You always do and then you sob in my arms about how much you love me and then we're together for a few months, then you need to _find yourself_ and it's like the Avatar cycle of lesbian fucking," Azula purrs calmly as Emi looks disastrously uncomfortable, and as red as many of her dresses.

"The Avatar cycle of lesbian fucking? You're so romantic," Ty Lee sighs sarcastically. "I might be persuaded to go on whatever date you have planned for me."

"You already are." Azula hesitates as Emi gestures for her to just take the clothes. "You know, if you would just make your mind up we could rule the Universe together."

Ty Lee smiles faintly and tries to hide it. Azula seizes her by the wrist and takes her out of the boutique. She would like ruling the Universe with Azula.

"I'm just glad you didn't set anything on fire this time," Ty Lee sighs as Azula helps her into a palanquin. "Or set any animals loose."

Azula smirks.


	27. Skinny Love

A/N: The first line is taken from Edna. St Vincent Millay, because it inspired this one along with the song.

I haven't really updated this as much as I said I would. I've been trying to get a few weeks ahead, but I'm at a standstill right now with drabble 47 and none of the other prompts are currently doing it for me. So I've been kind of stalling. But I suppose if I post, people will give me new prompts, and maybe that will reinvigorate my writing. (the prompts already given _will _get written, I just have 18 of them that are giving me a hard time to write)

I do entirely intend to get to 100, it's just taking longer than I thought it would.

* * *

><p><em>(Theme Twenty-Seven) <em>**Skinny Love**

_(As prompted by_) **American Zombie**

Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies.

Azula never really had a childhood; Ty Lee's never ended. They take their daughter to the school where they once studied. Azula tries to avoid the stares at her for being the princess who got locked up in an asylum. The princess who lost the war and probably ruined most political careers of these kid's grandparents.

"Why don't you take her in? I'm just going to stand here," Azula says, pursing her lips. The room includes people she _knows_.

_"You can't hide in the palace forever," Ty Lee sighs in her Kyoshi Warrior days, not honest woman days._

_ "I accept that challenge," Azula replies haughtily._

_ And in the morning Ty Lee will be with her._

"Are you sure?" Ty Lee asks, holding the hand of their seven year old daughter.

She looks exactly like Azula; it's uncanny. Well, Azula at that age, so adorable and not sexy. Big gold eyes that get her whatever she wants, except from Azula, who sees right through it.

_"Oh, please, I'm Princess Azula, I invented that ruse."_

_ Azusami frowns bitterly, stomping her foot._

The school smells exactly how it used to; incense and dread. Ty Lee seems absolutely gleeful at the prospect of subjecting her daughter to education. But Azula looks around and sees crying parents and those with jaws jutting out as if to secure authority. It blends together to her as she wonders where she would be without this place.

Not that she ever liked it. But it was an escape in her pathetic excuse for her childhood.

The walls still have that disgusting red paint. She assumes the bathrooms are still a sickening pastel pink with golden knobs. And now the cycle continues; it feels strange to Azula. There was a long point in her life where she thought she was going to die surrounded by doctors and white walls.

And now she is a _person_.

When their daughter is left at the Academy for Girls, Ty Lee grabs Azula's hand and dodges out of a meeting for parents.

She has to cut the ropes and let her daughter fall. It makes Azula's stomach twist.

"Maybe she'll meet a little Mai and a little you," Azula says with a small smirk.

"I think Azusami has my social skills, not yours," Ty Lee remarks, cocking an eyebrow. Although her daughter is not related to her by blood, she did most of the child raising.

"Well, now I'm concerned about her getting knocked up," Azula sighs and Ty Lee snickers, rolling her eyes.

"Boys are going to be extremely afraid of her. Girls too, probably."

"Probably," Azula sighs as they wander into the pavilion in front of the school. "I hear school isn't just meant to indoctrinate children anymore. Something Zuko did right, finally."

When they are at home, Azula looks bored by political papers. Ty Lee comes up beside her, kissing her neck. Azula shivers from it and then returns to focusing. Futile, Ty Lee decides.

"Are you _worried _about her?" Ty Lee asks, giggling and sitting down on an old antique chair.

"No, of course not. My daughter is incredibly capable," Azula says, bristling. Ty Lee smirks to herself.

"You are." Ty Lee giggles again. "She will be fine. I think she's going to have a happy childhood."

"I didn't even have one."

"Then give one to her."

Azula purses her lips. She agrees but does not want to seem weak.

Ty Lee kisses her again and they fall into each other on top of an expensive wooden desk.

* * *

><p>AN: If you have the time/desire, please give me some suggestions. Anything, no matter how weird, short/long, etc. Hope you liked this one.


	28. Runaways

A/N: You guys are the best readers in the history of ever. Well, I mean, that's obvious. But particularly thank you for all the suggestions/prompts last chapter. I've started writing more and more drabbles with newfound passion. Yes! Thank you. I'm going to at least update every day this end of week / weekend. And hopeful every other day after that.

* * *

><p><em>(Theme Twenty-Eight) <em>**Runaways**

_(As prompted by_) **mint & GuitarBOSS**

* * *

><p>"Promise you'll run away with me, okay?" Ty Lee whispers in the dead of the night. Azula looks unimpressed by the fanciful notion. They are fourteen and having a childish sleepover as Mai is having a far less childish sleepover with Zuko.<p>

"I once skipped school and half the army came looking for me," Azula says, squinting at the ceiling. Ty Lee is still smiling, regardless.

"Well then let's run away together and start another war." Silence. Azula smirks faintly in the darkness.

"I'll consider it," Azula says softly.

"I asked you to run away to the circus with me," Ty Lee says, smiling. Azula raises an eyebrow.

"Can you honestly see me in the circus? I mean, what would my killer act be?" Azula asks, sounding happy for the first time in a while. "I mean, maybe a lightshow? Lightning Girl."

"Maybe," Ty Lee squeaks and Azula rolls her eyes.

"Clearly not. Go on and tell me," Azula demands and Ty Lee squirms. Azula touches her hand and she stops fidgeting uncomfortably. "I won't be offended."

"Can you juggle?"

"I never tried."

"Maybe I'll teach you when we run away."

"Yes, we can make our living by doing a terrible act on the side of the roads. I can juggle flaming knives and you can contort yourself into weird positions and we'll be oh so rich," Azula says in a grandiose tone that only royalty can pull off. Ty Lee giggles.

"That actually sounds pretty fun," Ty Lee says softly, eyes as wide as saucers and glittering in the moonlight.

"It does," Azula says softly, now vaguely seductive. Yet mocking. Ty Lee is confused by her. "Alright, if the Avatar pulls off this invasion, we'll run away together and have a two person circus act."

"I'd like that. Uh, I mean, not the Avatar winning part, the circus part."

Azula smirks and closes her eyes.

* * *

><p>AN: I kind of cheated this prompt. It was originally them running away together. But then I thought about all the logistics of what would happen if Azula ran away, which are all kind of downers, so I decided that it was still cute and romantic to have them discuss it. I hope it's not disappointing.


	29. Who am I to disagree?

_(Theme Twenty-Nine_) **Who Am I to Disagree?**

_(as prompted by) _**GuitarBOSS**

Ty Lee sleeps fitfully for the first night in prison. Mai sits in the corner and counts down the days until they are presumably executed. The Boiling Rock is not _terrible_. But they were not meant to be _traitors_. Mai was a good kid who did as she was told, got good grades and conquered Ba Sing Se. She should not be a traitor.

But Ty Lee seems even more shaken by it. Mai was as surprised as Azula was when Ty Lee chose her. But she does not mention it for fear of setting Ty Lee off.

Mai watches her sleep, feeling like a creep. Ty Lee turns over on the stiff and uncomfortable bed and murmurs, "Azula. Azula don't."

Crawling across the filthy floor and staining her red rags, Mai sits closer to her, wondering if she should wake her up. _Azula don't kill me_, likely dream Ty Lee is screaming. It must have been exactly what she was feeling when she blocked Azula's chi.

"Azula don't leave me," Ty Lee murmurs in her slumber and Mai knits her eyebrows together.

Well, two romances were shattered last week. Mai sits back down with her heart beating a little too quickly.

Many miles away from the filthy prison cell and steaming water of the Boiling Rock, Azula lies in bed, her knees touching her chest.

No one can hear her when she talks in her sleep. Lonely. Always lonely.

But she murmurs in the darkness of her gilded bedroom, "Ty Lee. Ty Lee don't leave me."

Many years after Sozin's Comet, Azula talks in her sleep far more than Ty Lee does. She twists and kicks blankets and murmurs about her mother or her father. Ty Lee will sometimes watch her, waiting to see if she should wake her up or if she genuinely needs to sleep.

But tonight in her sleep, she is peaceful. Ty Lee smiles faintly as she hesitantly brushes Azula's raven hair out of her face.

And she breathes Ty Lee's name, as if is pleasant. Not the tortured, _"Father, no, please..." _or the worse screams about her mother. Beautiful words on beautiful and peaceful rosy lips.

Ty Lee smiles faintly to herself.

Azula wakes up without screaming. She rubs her eyes and glances around. The sun has not risen yet and Ty Lee is sleeping beside her. Azula had no nightmares last night. She did not wake up clawing at herself or gasping for breath. Her heart is not racing. She does not feel the suffocation of a panic attack.

She slept like she was happy.

"You're awake," Ty Lee whispers, sitting up slowly.

"Yeah." Azula lies back down, her head on one of the multitude of black, red and golden pillows.

"Did you have nightmares?" Ty Lee shifts through the bed and rests her head on Azula's shoulders.

"No," Azula murmurs earnestly.

"You slept like you were happy," Ty Lee murmurs, neglecting to mention her name on Azula's lips.

"I guess I did."

* * *

><p>AN: I'm sorry this is a day late, yesterday I went to see _Mockingjay_ for the third time, then out to dinner, then had a impromptu sleepover at my friend's house and wasn't able to update until I got home today, just now.


	30. Incense and Peppermint

A/N: Okay, I have 87 drabbles planned that are set in stone, from all of your amazing prompts. I need 13 more prompts, possibly a few more if they can be combined. So up to 26 prompts, I can take. And... we're only at Drabble 30. Thank you, everyone. I'm glad people are sharing their ideas and all. I was so surprised at how well this drabble series has gone over. I'm glad I'm making people happy with it and thank you all so much for reading.

* * *

><p><em>(Theme Thirty) <em>**Incense and Peppermint**

_(as prompted by_) **GuitarBOSS & BabydollEyelashes**

"I don't buy any of this Earth Kingdom nonsense," Azula sighs as Ty Lee drags her towards a shop that the incense wafts out of halfway down the street.

"They have it in the Fire Nation too," Ty Lee replies and Azula does not respond. Auras and vibrations and future telling is completely absurd. She cannot believe Ty Lee believes in it, and she cannot believe that this is her tenth date.

_"Tenth dates are extremely important," Ty Lee says, although Azula cannot take her seriously in her make-up._

_ "You realize that these are just shams by my brother to try to keep me from going on some kind of insane rampage?" Azula sighs, crossing her arms._

_ Ty Lee raises an eyebrow with a seductive glint in her eyes. "Don't act like you don't like them."_

_ Azula has no answer to that._

They are on the Southern Tip of the Earth Kingdom in any incredibly sketchy seaside town. The port was rampant with pirates and merchants, and the Fire Nation insignias were sloppily painted over. Azula hates the Earth Kingdom with a burning passion; Fire Nation dates are far better.

_Then again_, no one whispers about her when she walks down the street in the Earth Kingdom. As if these dirty peasants would recognize Azula.

"Alright, so help me you are going to see auras by the end of this," Ty Lee says as they walk into the cramped shop. The smell is nearly enough to make Azula faint, but Ty Lee clutches to her arm.

The decor is as disgusting as the cheap incense. Azula sighs as the old woman dressed in a variety of vibrant cloths gestures for them to sit down.

"How much does this cost?" Azula whispers to Ty Lee and her friend shrugs.

Azula has no idea of the concept of money. She drops some coins on the table and hopes that they aren't too little and insulting. The woman looks startled and Azula realizes she has definitely overpaid. It isn't as if money matters. Maybe it will make the women tell Ty Lee to shut up. Hmm... perhaps. Azula drops another gold coin on the table.

"She wants me to believe in or see auras and vibrations or something."

"I totally want my future read too!" Ty Lee calls, shutting the door of the shop. The woman pockets the money and Azula is already fairly certain that she is a charlatan.

Azula clasps her hands on the table, waiting for this to be over. Today has been pleasant, but it just became incredibly painful.

It takes a certain amount of time, as Ty Lee keeps whispering in her ear if she sees anything yet. Azula drinks the strange drink she is handed and vows to herself to punch her brother in the face when she gets home. This is already turning into the worst date ever.

Azula feels incredibly dizzy and grabs at Ty Lee's shirt to keep upright.

Hazy colors around people. The woman indigo; Ty Lee pink. Herself vaguely...

"You hit your head pretty bad," is what Azula wakes up to, as well as a searing pain in the back of her head.

"I think I just was poisoned," Azula sighs as they lie on the front step of the woman's shop. "Can we get our money back?"

"It's going to be okay. She read my future and said that a great romance was in it. One that could shatter nations," Ty Lee says, helping Azula to her feet. Surprisingly, no one was staring at the unconscious girl and her accomplice.

"Let's hope that means I'm Fire Lord," Azula mutters to herself and Ty Lee pretends not to hear her. "I think I saw auras. Vague colors. Feel better? It just took a strong dose of passing out from drugs... I'm going to tell my brother that you drugged me, you know? I'm pretty sure that'll get you strung up or something... _drugging _a princess..."

Ty Lee kisses her and ignores her complaints.


	31. Bad Metaphors

_(Theme Thirty-One) _**Bad Metaphors (Freedom & "Sky Full of Stars" - Coldplay)**

_(As prompted by_) **LoveandLust and FanfictionVillainess**

Freedom is an illusion. Just when Azula takes one step forward she takes two steps back and it feels like barbed wire wrapped around her, tearing into her skin. It leaves her in tatters and she would never tell anyone because she is excellent at pretending.

She isn't _fragile_. Zuko treats her like she is a thin glass ball ready to be dropped and broken. But she is more of a stone wall that has been replaced and put back together several times, some of the stones crumbling despite the feeble repairs.

"I'm not fragile," Azula snaps, tossing her toothbrush into the sink and leaving it there. The sound of wood against porcelain is not as satisfying as she thought it would be. "Stop treating me like I'm fragile."

Ty Lee's eyes widen and her lips shrink. She touches Azula's arm and the princess does not move. Ty Lee is in a state of half dressed disarray, and partially braided hair. Azula looks flawless even though she spent the entire day in bed complaining about a migraine but really trapped in her flashbacks.

Everybody knows she is lying. But nobody wants to poke the sleeping dragon.

"I don't think you're fragile. I think you're the strongest person I've ever met," Ty Lee says as Azula walks back to the bed she spent her day in. She feels tired. "You're like a diamond."

"Like a diamond?" Azula snorts derisively. "A diamond, really?"

"They're the hardest kind of stone," Ty Lee breathes, sitting down at the vanity with her legs partially spread. They are directly across from each other but Azula barely makes eye contact with the girl she married. The girl who was crazy enough to marry someone insane. Who's crazier in that aspect? Because both of them sacrificed freedom for madness.

"And the sharpest," Azula says, attempting to avoid the situation.

"And they always survive," Ty Lee continues. "Like you do."

"I'm pretty hard to kill," Azula says with a small shrug. It isn't what Ty Lee meant, but she doesn't correct Azula. She never has.

"You're a diamond and I'm going to love you until the end of time," Ty Lee says and Azula is rather stunned by how poetic the shallowest person she has ever met can be. Ty Lee is not one for metaphor, even ones including shiny gemstones.

"Wait what?"

"I've been calling you a star for a really long time so I'm changing it up."

"But stars are... on fire. Diamonds are just..."

"Fine, you try to come up with loving metaphors," Ty Lee grumbles, crossing her arms. "I considered _sky full of stars_."

"Ugh, that's just even more cliché. Alright, you can call me a diamond," Azula says with a haughty sigh, as if it is an inconvenience to be compared to beautiful feats of nature.

"Gemstones and stars and skies aside, I really want to be with you. I could leave at any moment. Nobody's keeping me here anymore," Ty Lee says, regretting the last sentence, although Azula does not react.

"You would leave me if you had the chance," Azula says, lying down. Ty Lee looks at her, squinting, wondering how she can miss the point when she is a genius. "You're just stuck with me because neither of us is ever going to have any freedom. I didn't have any as a youth and I don't have it now. I was locked up and..."

"I've had plenty of chances to leave you. And I decided not to," Ty Lee says, walking to the bed and sitting beside her. She runs her fingers along Azula's navel. "You may have noticed that I decided to marry you, asylum and all."

"You're crazy."

"I think I've never been freer than when I'm with you."

"You're also extremely cliché in your romantic one liners. I'm amazed that I tolerate them. I mean do you actually think terrible metaphors are romantic?"

Ty Lee just smiles.


	32. Loose Lips

A/N: I was originally going to go with Ty Lee letting her crush on Azula slip and "romance ensues" but I actually thought that established Tyzula might fit well here and I've done a lot of Ty Lee crush. So, the prompt was "Ty Lee tells a secret about Azula to Mai, Mai tells Azula and afterwards, to Ty Lee's pleasant surprise, Tyzula ensues." I tried to stick to that.

* * *

><p><em>(Theme Thirty-Two) <em>**Loose Lips**

_(as prompted by) _**HeavenBesideYou13**

Ty Lee never could keep secrets.

"I feel kind of wanted when I'm in the Fire Nation. I mean, people _want _me everywhere, all the time. But you people need me," Ty Lee says to Mai, doing her dishes for her as they were stacked to disgusting proportions. Mai needs a maid who comes more than two times a week.

"I need you to clean my house? It's actually kind of insulting that you clean everything when you come over," Mai sighs, thumbing through a magazine casually. Ty Lee rolls her eyes and forces a smile. "Alright, so say I need you for friendship or something; what do other people need?"

"Well, Azula needs me to keep her from going crazy."

"_Little _late on that one, Ty."

"Again. She also needs me because everybody needs love. And also no one else is ever going to marry her if I don't."

Mai makes a guffawing sound. Ty Lee cringes at her words.

"Not that she's undesirable. But, other people just find her intimidating," Ty Lee says, scratching her forehead. Not going well at all. "I mean, lots of people masturbate thinking about her but no one is actually going to hit on her, you know?"

Mai can't contain herself this time. She looks about to cry. Ty Lee has never seen her laugh so hard, which, incidentally, isn't very hard.

"And Zuko needs me to be with Azula for a variety of reasons. I think he just sees me as a chi blocking tool or something," Ty Lee continues with a sigh.

"Zuko, Zuko... it's pathetic. You are the best kind of babysitter for Azula, though, because you're sleeping with her. Also, you're not that suspicious. Most people think you're too dumb to actually, well, be threatening," Mai says, cocking an eyebrow. "Have you had to chi block her since you two started dating?"

Ty Lee takes a deep breath. Her neck tenses as she wrestles with her tongue. Mai leans forward expectantly with bated breath. She clearly is holding a secret that will not be contained for long. Ty Lee makes a grimacing expression like she is about to bludgeon her own mother but then suddenly exhales.

"Well, she has a sleepwalking problem," Ty Lee says shrilly and Mai shrugs. "And when you try to wake her, she's combative."

"My cousin is a combative sleepwalker too. Whenever we went over to their house my mom would tell me not to wake her if she was sleepwalking and to stay very still. She ate in her sleep too," Mai says calmly, very intrigued.

"I think you underestimate Azula's combative sleepwalking. She firebends in her sleep. Zuko discovered it in a very painful way. He warned me about it the first time I slept over, actually," Ty Lee says, knitting her eyebrows together. Mai is less concerned. "If she just stopped having such bad nightmares she would probably stop..."

"So you had to chi block her while she was sleepwalking?" Mai asks and Ty Lee purses her lips. _Yes_. "That's hilarious."

"Don't tell her I told you, Mai. She'd probably be really embarrassed," Ty Lee says, shelving the final dish. "I'm serious. I shouldn't have told _you_."

But Ty Lee's warning is unheeded. Mai and Azula are by the pier, Mai throwing rocks in the water for no reason. Azula watches her, chewing on her lower lip and not saying anything. Their outings tend to be unusual like this, and more than once have ended in arson.

The pier smells of ocean and oil, and the splashing of the rocks that Mai hurls has a vague rhythm to it. Azula is quite transfixed by it, paying more attention to that than their casual conversation. They are surrounded by royal guard, who are meant to protect those around Azula, not Azula herself. The guards look undeniably uncomfortable, almost as much as she does when she is with her girlfriend, and, believe her, long distance makes for quite passionate reunions.

"Why are you throwing rocks into the water?" Azula finally asks as Mai finishes her boring story. Mai simply throws another, walking closer to the edge of the pier.

"Because there's a sign over there that says it's not allowed, but when I'm with you I don't have to follow the signs," Mai explains and Azula slowly shakes her head. "So, Ty Lee told me you have a sleepwalking problem."

Azula's expression steels.

"She did?" Her eyes are burning with a ferocity that makes Mai recoil slightly and drop the rock she was about to throw. "That's very personal. What else does she tell you about us?"

"Ugh. Just calm down. It's not like she told a tabloid. Although, if people knew it would be a really good legal defense if you were to kill everyone who stood in your way of being Fire Lord."

Mai throws another rock in the water.

Azula grits her teeth.

"I mean, they basically _have _to make you Fire Lord if you usurped the throne in your sleep."

Mai throws another rock. Azula holds up two hands to push Mai into the pier and decides against it.

Ty Lee never could keep secrets. That night, Azula slinks back to the palace and finds Ty Lee in the midst of a conversation with Zuko. He is smiling faintly and Azula feels a knot of metallic jealous in her gut. The mild flirtation involved in Ty Lee and Zuko's conversations make Azula want to do things that would get her sent to prison without a second thought.

Azula slips into the scene, interrupting Ty Lee mid-sentence with a kiss. Zuko rolls his eyes but Azula does not see. She lures Ty Lee away halfway through their conversation and neither protests, because neither wants to provoke Azula.

"Why did you tell Mai that I sleepwalk?" Azula asks in a faux sweet tone and Ty Lee bites down on her lip. _Ugh_, of course Mai would tell. _Of course_. Ty Lee does not trust Mai or Azula as far as she can throw them.

"It just kind of, uh, slipped out," Ty Lee squeaks and Azula narrows her eyes. They slip into an abandoned living room in this empty palace and Azula waits for more. Ty Lee supposes she expects an apology. "I'm sorry. I am _really _bad at keeping secrets. If it makes you feel better, I told _all _of Mai's secrets to you when we were kids."

Azula suppresses a smirk. "Why don't you make it up to me?"

Ty Lee pauses for a moment, and presses her lips against Azula's, fumbling with her clothes.

Frantic, hurried tumble of desperation and sexual longing.

"Maybe," gasps Ty Lee as they are digging into each other like teenagers instead of moderately responsibly adults, "I should tell Mai your secrets more often."

"Don't push your luck." Kiss.


	33. Snowman Building Contest

A/N: This prompt said Tyzula and any pairing, so I decided to change things up and make the other pairing Zutara; that makes this one AU. I have Maiko as canon in this.

* * *

><p><em>(Theme Thirty-Three) <em>**Snowman Contest**

_(As prompted by_) **Streetlight Eyes**

"I can't believe we're in the South Pole," Azula bemoans, breathing fire into her fingertips. One of her gloves starts smoking and Ty Lee stifles it with a single fingertip.

"They're basically our family, Azula," Ty Lee says sharply and Azula frowns, looking unimpressed. "She's going to be our sister-in-law."

Azula clears her throat haughtily and remarks, "I think it was survival of the fittest that this place was nearly wiped out. The only reason they're put back together is my brother's hard-on for─"

"Hello, Katara," Ty Lee says blithely as their host walks up to them. The acrobat shoots a warning glance at her fiancée.

"Hi, Ty Lee," Katara says with a smile, before her eyes gloss over Azula entirely and fall on the wall built of snow beside her. Azula takes a deep breath and prevents herself from starting a rematch. And she quickly departs from the couple to find Zuko, who is locked in uproarious laughter with Sokka.

"I think we were just snubbed," Azula murmurs but Ty Lee ignores her, seizes her hand and takes her to the other side of the room, of course, to lock her in conversation with _Suki_, who looks upon Azula as kindly as Azula looked at her Water Tribe dinner.

After the ridiculous party that Azula struggles to coast through, she finds herself walking back towards Katara's house with Ty Lee. They clutch onto each other as Azula rolls her eyes and wishes she were in the Fire Nation.

"This may piss you off," Ty Lee murmurs and Azula cocks an eyebrow in response, "but I want to stop here for a minute."

"Seriously? You know, your water peasant fetish is really not sexy. If I was into that, I would fuck my brother," Azula says and Ty Lee tugs on her arm with a goofy grin that Azula finds to be the most desirable looking thing in the Southern Water Tribe.

With a sigh, the princess follows Ty Lee to the center square of the walled in miniature city. The lamps are different, the smell is distinctly different and the weather is _very _different from the Fire Nation. Azula loves her nation and they love her, madness and all. The Water Tribe and Zuko's friends are less forgiving.

"I want to build a snowman," Ty Lee says, sitting down. "We made them on Kyoshi Island."

"I have no idea how to build a _snowman_," Azula says, crossing her arms. She feels snow make its way into her tri-fingered glove and shudders. Cold and wet are two things Azula loathes being; if Mai were here she would be incredibly displeased.

"You're going to build a snowman with me, Azula," Ty Lee says, her eyes aflame like dark embers. Azula shakes her head regally, tilting her chin upwards towards the moon.

"Hey, Zuko, let's build a snowman," Katara's voice exclaims, tugging on her newlywed husband.

"Let's build a snowman, Ty Lee," Azula says, her competitive nature flicking on with a flash of her gilded eyes. She kneels beside Ty Lee, trying to ignore the wet snow freezing her knees.

"Is this a competition?" Zuko asks as Katara summons the snow into a large boulder with her bending.

"Yes," Azula snaps at her brother and he touches the snowball Katara has made awkwardly. "Waterbending is cheating, Peasant Princess."

"That's _Fire Lady _to you," Katara says and the snowball Azula is holding turns first to water, then to ice. She looks at it, deems it sharp enough to stab Katara to death, but then decides against it. "And bending is fair game."

"If you say so," Azula shrugs and Zuko breathes in through his teeth. If there are four words you never want to hear Azula say, it is those.

Azula and Katara have developed a level of competition that makes both Ty Lee and Zuko uncomfortable. Usually it manifests itself in harmless ways, and they constantly one each other up. The score almost _always _flattens because they are freakishly equally matched, which makes both unchallenged young women even more vehemently competitive. And Ty Lee and Zuko tend to get roped in more often than they would like.

Ty Lee is forming the body of the snowman as Katara is bending a perfectly round bottom. She delegates Zuko to busy work with a command that Azula finds hilarious. She definitely is the dominator in their relationship and it amuses Azula to no end. If Azula did have a perfect opposite, it would be Katara. After all, she is the only person capable of defeating Azula in combat. And the only person equally capable of flustering Zuko.

Azula shoves Ty Lee aside and drops the blade of ice she accidentally made. While Katara starts forming the second circle, the night is stained with a blue glow from Azula's flame.

"That isn't a snowman," Katara snaps with a small, self important laugh as Zuko smoothes a corner of their snowman's body.

"It's an ice sculpture," Azula purrs, guiding the water up as she finally figures out the timing between melting and freezing. It is a small margin for error and Zuko and Katara are making far more progress than her. But so help her, she will _win_. "Ty Lee..."

The couples are almost equally matched. Ty Lee feels at home amongst the snow and she and Azula have worked together long enough to be able to nonverbally communicate orders. But Katara is an expert at waterbending and Zuko has drive to push through mistakes, which Azula struggles with.

Azula's ice sculpture is coming to a close as she starts to work out the details, forming a blade and chiseling out pieces. Ty Lee helps her, dripping with sweat that turns cold on her skin as soon as her body produces it.

"We're done," Katara says smugly, crossing her arms.

"That _is _impressive," Ty Lee whispers, cringing and examining the chunks of ice stuck to her blue gloves.

Zuko breathes a sigh of relief. His chest is tight from a snowman building contest, more so than it is during assassination attempts or his morning training. Azula's eyes are fixated on the ice so smooth and crystalline that it reflects her form in it as the moonlight falls on her just right.

"We're done," Azula says finally, stepping back and crossing her arms.

Katara examines the ice sculpture and her lips part in surprise. It is a girl with her arms raised above her face, cowering from an unseen attack. At first Katara thinks the melt is unintentional, before she realized it is frozen to portray melting skin.

"That's horrifying," Zuko remarks, cocking an eyebrow.

"Yeah, it is definitely the most disturbing snowman I've ever seen," Ty Lee remarks, squinting at it and catching her breath.

"You didn't say it had to be cheery." Azula shrugs with a small smirk.

Katara waves one hand and she and Zuko's snowman crumbles.

"Tomorrow. You. Me. Rematch. One on one." And she is gone, looking huffier than the day she tried to attack Azula with a glass of liquor and it lit her skirt on fire.

Azula breathes a sigh of bliss and presses her lips against Ty Lee's victoriously.

"You two are mean," Zuko laughs, rubbing his neck and dashing after his wife.

"That is a really scary snowman, Azula," Ty Lee remarks as the kiss breaks, studying it closely. "I'm going to have nightmares."

"I'll protect you from your horrible dreams about ice sculptures," Azula purrs, shifting her lips to Ty Lee's neck. Ty Lee moans faintly before realizing they are in public.

They abandon Azula's horrifying art project, and one of her victories against Katara, and head off to bed.


	34. Cupcake Wars

_(Theme Thirty-Seven) _**Cupcake Wars**

_(As Prompted By_) **x0xcoffeeandcigarettesx0x**

"Baking is fun, princess," Ty Lee whines and Azula sighs. She is going to wind up having to do this, isn't she?

It is another date, this one in the palace. Zuko seems pleased with Ty Lee's visit, because he is using her as a chi-blocking prostitute to keep Azula in line. It perturbs the princess, but she has to admit she likes having _someone _on her side. Now that Zuko and Mai are back together, the lustful desire is increased by tenfold.

"I don't _bake_. I'm a princess. Servants bake for me," Azula purrs airily but Ty Lee whimpers and bats her eyes. Azula closes her own eyes and hopes that it will prevent her from being won over by a baby animal face.

"There's that party tonight and it will be so fun if we bake the little cinnamon cakes for it," Ty Lee says, forcibly opening Azula's eyes with her fingertips. If Ty Lee were anyone but herself, Azula would bite off one of her fingers, or at least chomp into her hand.

"It's genuinely unbecoming of a princess and the noblewoman she's courting," Azula says with a small sigh. Ty Lee scowls; Azula _will _budge if it is the last thing she does.

"You're courting me?" A lopsided smile and a seductive bat of her eyelashes.

"There's not a better word for it," Azula sighs, rubbing her temples. She is going to end up _baking_. "You owe me. You realize that."

"I always pay my debts." Ty Lee pecks Azula on the lips as if that will sway her. But being perfectly honest, Azula has little else to do but lounge around, and she and Ty Lee have already slept together twice today. There is not anything else desirable to do, so perhaps degradation is the next step in curing her boredom.

"This debt paying better be pretty worth it," Azula purrs and Ty Lee winks at her. _Ugh_. That wink. Azula sits up slowly from her lounging position and gestures for Ty Lee to guide her to an oven.

Ty Lee sets up with ease, dashing about and gathering ingredients. Azula kicks out the servants with a particular pleasure in the condescension. The princess's nostrils are overwhelmed by cinnamon as Ty Lee seizes a bowl and gestures at the grand baking scenario she has built.

"Congratulations?" Azula offers, examining her girlfriend with mild distaste. "Where did you learn to bake, anyway?"

Ty Lee points at the oven and Azula goes to light it, waiting for her answer as she walks. "I picked it up a few places. I _do _live as a peasant most of the time. And in a circus. And... well, I'm not quite as _pampered _as you."

"I was a fugitive for two years," Azula offers in a sing-song tone and Ty Lee only cocks an eyebrow.

"Did you do a lot of baking while on the run from Zuko?" Ty Lee asks sweetly and Azula lights the oven and crosses her arms.

"I'm proud to say that I didn't," Azula purrs and Ty Lee kisses her again. They are at the endless touching phase of their relationship, according to Mai. And Azula has to admit she likes the wet heat of it.

Ty Lee starts laying out ingredients as Azula stares in mild disdain. But Ty Lee starts stirring and thrusting recipes into Azula's hands.

"You like analyzing things," Ty Lee says, batting her eyelashes for the thousandth time. Azula wants to tell her that it does not work, but she finds it appealing.

"I do," Azula admits with a small shrug. And so she dives into baking with Ty Lee.

As the cinnamon cakes are put in the oven in record time and Ty Lee is congratulating herself, in awe of her own abilities, Azula laughs slightly and sits on the counter. Ty Lee clutches the bowl of cake mixture to her chest and sticks her fingers into it, eating it in a way that makes Azula roll her eyes.

"You want some?" Ty Lee offers, extending one finger. Azula thinks of the fact that Ty Lee's saliva has been all over it, but then she realizes how many bodily fluids they have exchanged over the past several years and Azula licks it off of Ty Lee's finger, sending shivers through Ty Lee's spine.

Azula sucks on her finger and Ty Lee's eyes flutter.

"See, I'm good at that. Baking... not so much."

"Did you just admit you aren't a prodigy at something?" Ty Lee exclaims, laughing and swiping up more of the cake mix.

"I suppose." She glances at the sad cakes she burnt, not by putting them into the oven, but by searing them with her bending in a fit of rage. It is amazing they made any cakes at all with Azula's near mental breakdown over it.

Ty Lee shoves her finger coated in cake mix into Azula's mouth.

The princess sucks it off and then rolls her eyes.

"At least it's edible," she remarks and Ty Lee nods.

"That's kinda what I was going for. Now no more of this for you; I did all of the work." Ty Lee clamps the bowl to her chest and Azula simply gazes at the oven.

"The things I do for love," she sighs.


	35. A Dangerous Activity

A/N: Alright, so I had multiple people ask me to make the last drabble (Cupcake Wars) into a lemon. And _I am_, because peer pressure. Look for it Christmas Eve, if you want to read it.

* * *

><p><em>(Theme Thirty-Five) <em>**A Dangerous Activity**** (or of Sleazy Azula, Sword Swallowing Ty Lee and their first date)**

(_as prompted by_) **Fake Nails Real Hearts**

"I'm _bored_, Azula," whines Ty Lee loudly, kicking her feet twice on the cold stone floor.

Azula looks up from her work, narrowing her eyes briefly at her friend. They have only been in the Fire Nation for a week after their excursion in Ba Sing Se, and Ty Lee is already whining about her boredom. She genuinely can only be happy while punching things or having sex with things and Azula finds it enticing. And grating.

"Would you like me to get you a coloring book?" Azula replies sharply and icily, congratulating herself mentally for how brutal her remark is.

Ty Lee frowns.

"You don't have to be so mean to her, Azula," Mai sighs, opening her eyes. She has been curled in a ball sleeping for the good part of an hour, her head resting on Azula's far-too-pointy hip.

"I'm going to go get an activity," Ty Lee interrupts loudly, demanding that they focus on her. "If you _want to join me_, Azula."

"I really have no desire to do an activity with you," Azula says sharply, once more genuinely pleased with herself. She can _feel _the applause of her internal psyche.

Ty Lee kicks the floor again and disappears into the palace. Mai groans.

They have been pretending not to be dating each other for exactly three weeks. It is going very well as long as Ty Lee is not trying to convince Azula to go on actual dates with her. Making out in dark rooms is pleasant; being caught in a secret affair while royalty is... not so pleasant.

"I thought you wanted her to have sex with you," Mai inquires quietly, hoping Ty Lee is out of earshot.

"What do you think I'm doing?" Azula sets down her stack of boring papers and Mai realizes she means business. Her ears involuntarily perk up. "The more I knock her down, the more she seeks to validate herself in my eyes. It's the only guaranteed way to sleep with her."

Mai opens her mouth to protest, but simply sighs. Terrible. Azula never ceases to amaze with her levels of terrible. Torturing Kyoshi Warriors and giving speeches about the machine of the Earth Kingdom threatening the Fire Nation's liberty and now... whatever _this _is with Ty Lee. She is a horrible, despicable human being but Mai has absolutely no desire to change that.

"Or," oh agni Mai is trying, "you could compliment her and flatter her."

"No, no, you don't understand at all. She would see right through that," Azula explains, knowing very well that when she is flattering someone who knows her well they generally look very frightened and presume she wants something from them. Which is usually the case.

"She's not exactly the brightest candle in the bunch." Mai shrugs.

"Hmph." But Ty Lee is back before Azula and Mai can argue further.

"Look!" Ty Lee declares shrilly and Azula and Mai both flinch. She is clutching a shimmering steel, perfectly straight and incredibly expensive sword. "I took this from one of those guard guys."

"If you kill me you will die a horrible death," Azula says fiercely as Mai inconspicuously slips slightly behind the princess.

"I'm not _killing you_. I don't know how to _swordfight_. Just watch!" Ty Lee says happily and Azula does not realize what she is doing until it is too late.

There are no possible words to describe it as Azula's lips are parted in surprise. She can barely register the fact that Ty Lee has just carefully put a sword down her throat and Mai is digging her arms into herself with a pained and aghast expression Azula did not think her neutral face could make.

"How do you do that?" Azula asks, leaning forward.

"She can't talk. She has a sword in her mouth," Mai says slowly, finally loosening her posture. She then smirks, examining the bizarre sight and adds snidely, "So that's why you're so popular with all of the boys, Ty Lee."

Ty Lee removes the sword slowly and is disappointed that they do not clap enthusiastically like her previous audiences. She coughs forcibly and watches Azula's eyes flash with a moment of concern, looking for blood. It takes _effort _to suppress her smile when she sees that Azula was _worried _about her.

"Very funny," Ty Lee belatedly replies to Mai and Azula simply crosses her arms.

"I could do that," she says and Mai sighs loudly, deciding to go back to sleep.

"It takes a lot of practice," Ty Lee says softly, suddenly looking uncomfortable.

"You wanted to do an activity together; teach me how to do... that," Azula says, turning a palm up with a cocked eyebrow.

Ty Lee has no proper defense. She simply shrugs, decides this is a very strange first date and says, "Do you have any coat hangers?"


	36. Jasmine Tea

_(Theme Thirty-Six) _**Jasmine Tea**

_(as prompted by_) **ice cold desire**

"Well, you picked my favorite tea, I'll give you that," Azula comments cautiously and Ty Lee simply blinks twice. She is trying _far _too hard to look innocent, on which Azula remarks, "Wait... you want something from me."

Ty Lee blinks three times and her small, comforting smile does not falter. Azula sits down and pours herself a cup of tea, realizing she has gotten herself into something very dark simply by agreeing to tea. In this secluded part of the palace where no one will hear her scream. Ty Lee looks equal parts terrified and terrifying and Azula is incredibly uneasy.

"I want to ask you for a parenting favor," Ty Lee finally blurts out before gasping in. She had forgotten to breathe, and Azula finds it cute, kind of like when a kitten forgets to put its tongue back in. But she cannot be distracted by her weak, wimpy feelings for her wife; this is clearly an important situation.

"Not my favorite kind of favors." Pause. "I find both life-saving and sexual preferable."

"I'm sorry. But you have to do this. Drink your tea." Ty Lee gestures at the cup and Azula suddenly loses her appetite for it.

"It's drugged isn't it? You're going to drug me," Azula sighs with a cocked eyebrow and slightly curled lip.

"_No_. Just drink it and don't ask so many questions. Try trusting me for once."

Azula snorts derisively, but she drinks her tea anyway. She supposes if Ty Lee wanted to incapacitate her she would not need herbs.

"I want you to talk to our daughter about things." Ty Lee squirms slightly and Azula's stomach turns to steel.

"Did she do something terrible? Because you know how I feel about reprimanding her; we really just need to let her grow on her own."

"Okay, your shitty parenting aside, Azula she's really confused as to how she was conceived." Blunt and startling. Azula struggles to swallow the tea built up behind her rosy lips."I mean, she _knows _about sex making babies but she doesn't... well... she doesn't really understand how that worked with us. And, while you don't necessarily need to go into graphic detail... I feel kind of bad for her."

"She doesn't need to know that." Brief silence. "Ty Lee, she was under the impression that you gave birth to her until she was seven and Zuko let it slip. She doesn't need to know. Wait ─ why is she even asking these things? She's ten; she doesn't need to know where babies come from."

"I was like eight when you told me," Ty Lee chimes, cocking an eyebrow.

Azula drinks her tea. It is scalding but she completely ignores it to avoid having to answer this. She needs to think of something, _anything_ that excuses her from this.

"Why don't we ask Mai to do it?" is Azula's clever suggestion that Ty Lee responds to with a small frown. She looks very serious and it is an expression that makes Azula uneasy. "Alright, why do _I _have to do this?"

"Because I do absolutely everything else," Ty Lee says as if commenting on the weather. Azula is already uncomfortable and she does not even have to explain threesomes to her ten year old yet. There is still hope in this fight... probably.

"You are punishing me. This is cruel and unacceptable," Azula says sharply before regretting it. Agni, she wishes she had more ammunition in this.

"I'm not _punishing _you. I just don't... maybe we can do it together?" Ty Lee smiles hopefully, batting her eyelashes. Yet, Azula is not swayed.

"Ugh. That seems twice as awkward for everyone involved. Zuko, Zuko can do it." Pause. "That is if he has yet figured out where babies come from. I'm still not one hundred percent certain Izumi is his."

Ty Lee thinks for a moment. She sips her tea slowly, with a new expression of a general over a war table, and genuinely studies Azula, scanning for a weakness with focused, glinting eyes. Azula is trembling slightly, clearly realizing she is going to lose. And she must have known at some point they would have to explain this to their daughter.

"Maybe I'll ask your mother to do it." Ty Lee's protuberant eyes glitter with pure malice and joy.

Azula chokes on the tea she has been drinking far too fast. Her golden eyes flash and Ty Lee smiles smugly like a badgerfrog that just caught a particularly elusive spiderfly. Azula cannot fathom that she thinks she has just lost this argument. That is _not _how it works; Azula _always _wins.

"No. That is not acceptable at all," Azula says slowly, raising one clawed finger, and Ty Lee clasps her hands on her lap. "Did you just outsmart me?" Hesitation. "I let you win this to make you feel good."

"I know. Thank you for letting me win," Ty Lee says cheerfully and Azula takes a deep breath. All she can smell is jasmine tea and imminent discomfort.

"I am not prepared for this," Azula sighs, rubbing her temples weakly.

Ty Lee shrugs. "Your problem now."


	37. That Time Azusami Got Stuck in Seaweed

A/N: This one is dedicated to my little sister, who is both scared of seaweed and when she saw an ambulance in Yellowstone screamed gleefully, "I hope it's a bear attack!" I love her.

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><p><em>(Theme Thirty Seven) <em>**That Time Azusami Got Stuck in Seaweed**

_(as prompted by_) **Aya Rose & promiscuityisagift**

Azula has her eyes closed, the sun beating down on her. She breathes it in, in some level of peace on the silent, private beach. Although she is surrounded by her family, she is pleasantly pretending that they do not exist.

She has always detested Ember Island, but she has grown to tolerate it over time. Like tolerating the unbearable futility of her adult life with a far less glamorous job than she dreamed of, a far less exciting wife than she thought she would have, and a far more spoiled and rude daughter than she thought she would produce.

But she is happy, despite all of that. Maybe a little _boring _is good for her after sacrificing her childhood, normalcy and sanity for a war her ancestors started.

And then she hears a scream. An ear piercing scream that makes her heart jump into her throat. Azusami.

She is up on her feet before Mai and Ty Lee can even comprehend the scream of terror. And running, sliding across the sand towards the water where her daughter is shrieking like she saw an eel-shark. Which, Azula realizes with a surge of panic in her gut, could be possible.

And she seizes her daughter, pulling her into her arms and examining her frantically.

"It's on me!" Azusami wails, clinging to Azula tightly.

"What? What is on you? Burn it off," Azula says, her heart beating through her chest.

"I don't even know it's gross and slimy and terrible." And Azula sets down her daughter, sincerely hoping she has not been stung by some kind of sea monster, and sees that she is sobbing at green streaks over her body.

"It's... seaweed, Azusami," Azula sighs, the relief flooding through her as well as a good deal of shame. She dreams about losing her daughter constantly, and the thought that it could happen, in this moment, has just made her look completely ridiculous in front of Mai, Ty Lee and Izumi.

"Get it off!" She stomps her arms and feet and Azula kneels to her level. She slowly removes the seaweed with a controlled blue tongue of flame. And Azusami throws herself into her mother's arms, crying like a Zuko.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack," Azula says as Azusami continues wailing.

"The ocean tried to kill me I am never going back in it ever!" screams Azusami as Ty Lee finally arrives. Azula cannot tell if she took her sweet time or Azula moved ridiculously quickly.

"You tried to save our daughter. You _do _have a heart, Azula," Ty Lee says blithely, masking her own panic at her daughter's screams. She kneels down and starts gushing over her and Azula breathes a small sigh of relief.

"If the ocean tries to kill you again, I will be forced to evaporate it," Azula says as calmly and coldly as she can, although her pulse is still racing.

"Thank you," Azusami squeaks, which is rare from her. Azula feels slightly satisfied, until Mai and Izumi arrive.

Mai and Izumi arrive _very _belatedly. Azusami is still crying and clinging to her mothers as Mai tries to figure out what happened and Izumi seems intrigued by the fact that Azusami was hurt. Well, not hurt, but she certainly is slimy.

"So, she got stuck in seaweed? You rescued her from seaweed?" Mai snickers and Azula rolls her eyes.

But before Azula can protest, there is a commotion at the beach nearby that is not private. Shouting, and as the family gravitates towards it in intrigue, there are doctors and lifeguards.

"Oh, look an emergency," Izumi remarks, with a glee in her eyes Mai finds unsettling. The crown princess sits up on her knees and tries to see what is happening.

Azusami throws the remaining seaweed off of herself and burns it with her bare foot. She really genuinely was glad to be the center of attention, but this is far more exciting. Azula and Ty Lee simply exchange a glance; _we raised a monster_.

"_Sami_, look, look, there's definitely a dead body," Izumi interrupts, hopping on her toes to see over the dunes that blockade the royal beach, and Ty Lee sets her hand over her mouth for a moment. Azusami clambers to Izumi and sits beside her.

"Oh, oh, I hope it's a bear attack!" Azusami exclaims and Azula laughs as Ty Lee whimpers and Mai sighs. At least she has forgotten about the seaweed. "I've _always _wanted to see a bear attack!"

"Bears don't live on Ember Island," Azula says gently as Mai is trying to hold Izumi back from going to investigate what is likely a drowning.

"How do you know? Have you ever seen a _bear_, mother?" Azusami retorts sharply, entirely ungrateful of Azula saving her life. Sort of.

"Actually, yes, I have. I once held a bear hostage," Azula says earnestly as Mai gives up on holding Izumi without much a fight.

"That's completely ridiculous. Don't lie to me. I'm not a baby anymore!" Azusami whines, her lower lip pouting. So ungrateful. Azula should have left her to the seaweed.

"It happened," Azula says softly, wilting slightly. "Its name was Bosco and your mom and aunt let it escape."

"Nope." And Azusami seizes Izumi to go to one of the sand dunes for a better view of the attack.

"It did happen," Azula murmurs feebly and Ty Lee wraps her arm around her wife, kissing her cheek.

"Well, you did save her from seaweed."

"I hate you." But Azula's protests are silenced by a kiss.


	38. Music Night

A/N: In honor of the week where everyone deals with their unbearable family: this prompt. Also, oh my god, we're at over 700 reviews. That's more than my brain can even comprehend. Thank you so much for all the support and the reviews make my day, each one. Also your prompts are all fantastic. Thank you :)

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><p><em>(Theme Thirty-Eight) <em>**Music Night**

_(as prompted by_) **GuitarBOSS**

"I hate this city," Azula says for the thousandth time. Ty Lee forces a smile but it comes out as more of a grimace.

"We're on a vacation." Ty Lee gestures around at the Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se, smiling again but not making any progress with her girlfriend. This is almost intolerable; Ty Lee sometimes cannot believe she dates this insufferable downer.

It is a moonlit night in Ba Sing Se, the stars shining in the sky. Despite the size of the city, they are not nearly as blocked out by smog as Caldera. People are walking pleasantly with their friends and family, and music plays gently from one of the shops. Azula hates it. The ambiance makes her nauseous.

"We could have gone somewhere _nice_," Azula replies bitterly, crossing her arms as they walk up the street. "This city is terrible and it should have been mine."

"Ask for it for your birthday," Ty Lee retorts sharply and Azula's eyes flash wide. She did not expect Ty Lee to react so viciously. "We're going to see your uncle and it's going to be nice."

"He infuriates me, Ty Lee," Azula snaps as they slowly get closer to the Jasmine Dragon. Ty Lee makes a small groaning sound in response. "What? He does. He's frustrating."

"Please be nice. _Please_. Just for the two weeks we're here. Be _nice_," Ty Lee says softly and Azula sighs and rolls her eyes. "_Please_. I'll repay you somehow. Anyway, everybody hates the majority of their family. I fantasize about murdering most of my relatives at family gatherings. Everybody tolerates it."

"Ugh." Azula sticks her nose up in the air but Ty Lee knows she has won.

They arrive at the tea shop to hear music playing. Azula sighs as Ty Lee pushes open the door and finds Iroh surrounded by what must be his friends. They are all Earth Kingdom, to Azula's distaste. The men and two women look up, confused.

"This is my niece and her girlfriend," Iroh says, setting down his instrument on one of the tables and walking to them.

Azula tries feebly to dodge but he wraps her in his arms in a hug. She imagined it would be more halfhearted, but he squeezes her tightly and then does the same to Ty Lee.

"So... what are we interrupting?" Azula purrs as she and Ty Lee are liberated from Uncle's greeting. She looks at him kissing her cheek and restrains herself from burning him again. The memory of the attack in that deserted town satisfies her briefly, calming her tightened chest briefly.

"Music Night," Iroh declares pleasantly and Azula rolls her eyes. "You know... my niece has a beautiful singing voice."

"No I don't," Azula snaps as one of Uncle's friends looks excited at the prospect.

"You know that you do," Iroh says and the one of them who is lying is the predictable one. "I remember when you used to sing as a child."

Azula's nose has turned a deadly shade of red, her eyes narrowed and molten gold. Ty Lee smiles.

"Well, I play the Liuqin," Ty Lee says loudly and Azula glares at her. If looks could kill...

"Sing for us, Azula, please," Uncle says and Azula imagines herself throwing her body over one of the tables and tackling him. Hm, no, perhaps lightning right through the eye.

"For me." Ty Lee bats her eyes with her lips puffed and pouting. Azula examines her, then Uncle's friends. "I will love you forever if you play a song with me. Oh come on, you know that one that was playing in the city the night before we did that coup and I made you dance to it with me and then that night we─"

"My Uncle is in the room... and a bunch of weird peasants," Azula interrupts, her heart skipping a beat as Ty Lee almost finishes her sentence. Uncle does _not _need to know what happened that night between she and Ty Lee.

Iroh introduces Azula and Ty Lee to his friends; Azula does not retain any of their names. She sits down at a table in the corner as Ty Lee plucks up a Liuqin and starts playing it. Where she was hiding _that _talent, Azula has no idea. Then again, she likes _performing _and it only makes sense she would know an instrument.

"Are you going to sing?" Ty Lee asks brightly, looking up from her conversation with an old woman in an expensive green dress. Azula cocks an eyebrow with a sullen expression in response. She turns away and continues reading the menu to avoid drawing attention to herself."_Azula_, Azula, Azula, Azula, Azula, Azula, Azula. _Azula_!"

"What?" Azula snaps, setting the menu on fire. Iroh cringes.

"Sing."

Azula sighs, realizes she is not getting out of this, and slowly stands up. She turns to her uncle with a glint in her eyes and says, "A princess surrenders with honor."

It takes him a moment to remember, and he watches her small smirk with brief disappointment.

And so Azula joins in on music night.

She _does _have a beautiful singing voice, and where she was hiding it, Ty Lee has no idea. In fact, she never even heard Azula sing national anthems or anything. Probably some repressed, traumatic childhood memory Ty Lee does not want to ask about.

Music night was not _terrible_, Azula decides.

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><p>AN: **Very Important Author's Note:**

I've never been happy with the title of this. I honestly titled it after the song I was listening to while writing the first drabble, and I've wanted to change it since September, but people, really, really don't like it when I change titles, and I don't like making my readers unhappy. Yet, it physically pains me to see the cringeworthy title and I just _need _to change it. I'm really sorry; I don't want to upset anybody because I love you all, but it really has to be done.

**Title Change! **─I'm changing the title to Chasing the Endless Sunrise after posting this chapter. I won't change the title again after this; I've put a good deal of thought into this new title since Novemberish. It's just really embarrassing to have a fic titled after a recent pop song to me.


	39. Heroes

A/N: This is the last modern AU; I know most people don't like Modern AUs, but this was a prompt I really liked. I have a sci-fi AU as well, then it's all canon / minor canon divergence drabbles. Also, I have all 100 prompts! Thank you so much everyone; you're the best readers ever, and all of the prompts are fantastic.

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><p><em>(Theme Thirty-Nine<em>) **Heroes (Supervillain AU)**

_(As Prompted By) _**Fake Nails Real Hearts & HeavenBesideYou13**

The newspaper that a man in the diner is reading details the story of The Phoenix and The Acrobat in a fight that took out an entire city block. Their rivalry grows stronger and New York City grows in tension day by day. It has its host of superheroes and villains, but two of them stand head and shoulders above the rest. The Acrobat is the embodiment of good, in many ways, but not afraid to dip to her enemy's level.

The Phoenix is the most competent villain superhero history has ever seen. And they despise each other entirely. The bright taunts and girlish laugh of The Acrobat versus the twisted smirks and clever puns of The Phoenix make quotes in newspapers, and the pictures of their clashes are on the front pages.

But in a world of superheroes, high school and nothing that can keep them together, Azula and Ty Lee could steal time, just for one day.

They are sitting in a diner, Azula looking incredibly uncomfortable. She studies the menu, which is distinctly different from the beautiful ones on parchment or expensive paper at the restaurants her father takes her to. Her date is blowing bubbles in her soda with a straw, as Azula looks at her already cold black coffee and wonders why she is doing this.

"I simply can't decide," Azula purrs sarcastically. "The food all looks so good from the... pictures."

Her lips curl in a snarl at how _beneath her_ this restaurant is. But Ty Lee seems completely content. Ick.

Azula wants to shudder. The hideous red _booths_, the wait staff that isn't bending over backwards, oh the _things she does for love._

There are three things of which Azula is certain. One, pretending to be normal is difficult. Two, she is in love with Ty Lee. And three, she has followed in her father's footsteps and embraced the life of New York City's greatest supervillain.

Azula may be the daughter of a millionaire, making footnotes in gossip magazines, but by night, she is a super-villain. She goes to her lovely private school, meets her girlfriend who likely is skipping school, goes to museums (which Ty Lee is bored by) and diners (which Azula finds cringe-worthy) and then by night, fights against the Painted Lady, Blue Spirit, Runaway and Acrobat just as daddy is proud of.

Her father is slightly less proud of Azula's choice in a mate. But there is something about Ty Lee that Azula finds irresistible. They have been friends for a long, long time, and the attraction has always been present. Perhaps they are bad for each other, but as Azula has learned from robbing banks and a variety of other conniving plots, being bad can feel so good.

"When do you have to be home?" Ty Lee asks as she lifts her coral pink lips from her straw.

Azula taps her expensive phone, carefully maneuvering around her pricey fake nails, and looks at the time. She clears her throat.

"Soon. But we have time. Maybe we should skip out on dinner and go for a walk." Azula crosses her fingers in hopes that Ty Lee will say yes. She would do anything to get out of this place.

"Yeah. Let's just go." Ty Lee tosses her menu aside and leaps up with preternatural grace. She is flexible, strong and moves like a dancer. Her explanation is years upon years of gymnastics, and Azula often wonders why she does not have any Olympic medals.

Azula leaves cash on the table for their drinks and the untouched appetizers and grabs her designer bag. She slings it over her shoulder as Ty Lee grabs her hand, then pulls away, wiping her sweaty palms on her blue jeans with a small apology, and holds Azula's hand again.

Ty Lee gazes at Azula as they head to the door. She can be incredibly mean, frustrating and a constant downer. But Ty Lee is not perfect either, she parties and drinks and gossips. But they are lovers, and that is a fact.

They walk out onto the street, the sun already setting and the moon rising. It is the dead of winter and Ty Lee wraps herself around Azula for warmth. Azula smirks faintly at the source of her heat, of which Ty Lee could never know. A secret identity is intriguing, and Azula cannot exactly go about flaunting that she has strange powers.

She looks at the magazines on one of the stands, the man running it playing a game on his phone. It could be robbed so easily. Ty Lee starts flipping through a celebrity magazine, Azula picks up an identical copy and sees a variety of snapshots of The Blue Spirit, The Painted Lady, The Runaway and The Acrobat. Vigilantes, all of them, in a corrupt city that needs to be _cleaned_ in their opinion. But it is Azula's city, and in her battles, she always wins.

"Oh, look, this one is about you," Ty Lee chirps, opening the magazine and holding it so close to Azula's face that she has to blink several times. It _is _an article about her, and she has already read it multiple times.

Despite her appearances as a socialite in magazines, she finds the articles about her alter ego far, far more interesting. Her favorite picture is of her with her body coursing with lightning, right before she struck down The Runaway, who had torn up half of the street with her powers.

The Runaway bent a car and threw it at Azula, the metal crunching under her tiny form of a teenager, but Azula melted it with the signature blue fire.

That fight made almost every news outlet, and Azula was quite proud of herself.

Ty Lee pays for her magazine, shoves it into her Hello Kitty backpack and grabs Azula again. They kiss, warm lips against each other. Azula breathes in for a moment, the scent of her perfume always familiar in a way she cannot quite place a finger on.

"Do you want to go to Central Park? Oh, oh, we can go on a moonlit stroll in front of all of the Christmas decorations!" She looks very proud of herself for thinking of that. Azula tries to hide how endearing she finds it.

"I suppose I have no choice," Azula purrs, shrugging. She conceals a smile as Ty Lee tugs her along through the night, talking about so much but saying nothing at all. Azula honestly just tunes her out most of the time, but pretends to be listening.

They find themselves in the park, Ty Lee thrilled by the lights. Azula examines them, trying to look disinterested. But it is fun for her, in a life that is run by strict rules and lessons and the constant need to be perfect for his father. The heir to a company. The... Ty Lee kisses her and Azula forgets for a brief moment that she can feel the weight of the world on her shoulders, slowly pressing down, suffocating her.

It is during that kiss, long and passionate and burning like the fire that Azula can produce, that an actual fire flies at them. Azula pushes Ty Lee out of the way, blocking it and abruptly realizing she is going to have a fabricate some lie for the outlandish act she just performed.

The Blue Spirit. Azula leaps up from the ground, startled he attacked her in the middle of the park and she without a disguise.

Of course he knows her. The Runaway, The Painted Lady and The Acrobat may have no idea, but The Blue Spirit Azula knows. The Blue Spirit Azula trained with before he became a _reformed_ supervillain. The Blue Spirit is her brother.

Azula throws a barrage of blue at him, lightning up the night in cerulean.

"You have a lot of nerve!" Azula shouts, summoning a whirlpool of fire. He blocks it, but it sends him stumbling backwards. "Why don't you take off the mask? You're not kidding anyone!"

He pauses, and then Zuko pulls off his mask and tosses it to the ground. The telltale scar from the day he betrayed his family and their legacy of amorality and superhuman powers. Azula smirks as she stands and decides she will very much impress her father by finishing him off once and for all.

"Any time is a good time to face off with your nemesis," Zuko remarks, cracking his knuckles. "You've really let your guard down now that you're going soft over that girl of yours."

"You think you're my nemesis?" Azula laughs mockingly, not playing along with his attempts at the threatening language taught by Ozai. Zuko is as bland as Superman and useless as Aquaman; he cannot pretend to be Ozai and threaten Ty Lee without looking ridiculous. "You aren't worth the _time_ for me to fight. It never is much of a clash."

"So who is it then? I think the tale of brother versus sister is pretty interesting." Zuko steps to the side and Azula lights her fingers.

"You know, being honest, I'd have to say The Acrobat," Azula says earnestly. She is the only opponent against which Azula has been unable to stand. She is the only one who has stopped Azula from winning. The power to strip away superpowers is... a little more threatening than bending metal with bare hands, controlling water and fighting fire with fire.

Ty Lee stirs slightly at that. She watches the fight slowly, feeling ready to hyperventilate. No, there's no way. There's no way her girlfriend is a _super villain_. Alright, it's a bit hot. A bit _very _hot. Ty Lee always did like the bad girls. But as a hero herself... it is probably unwise to be dating her.

Zuko throws fire at Azula and she blocks it.

"Oh, ZuZu," she sighs, clucking her tongue and quickly flipping out of the way of his second attack. "When will you ever learn that if you fight fire with fire, you just get burned?"

The flames that come out of her hands light the trees ablaze. Zuko puts them out and cautiously moves around Azula. He thought he would have it easy, going against her while she was on a romantic stroll. But she is far, far too prepared.

She summons lightning and Zuko's golden eyes flash. But when she releases the bolt, her signature move, he seizes it in midair and it surges through his body. He tosses it back at her and suddenly, she hits the ground. She does not feel the burn of electricity; Ty Lee, the girl who gossips about the rest of the cheerleading squad and still watches children's cartoons, has just shoved her out of the way and narrowly dodged the lightning herself.

Ty Lee springs forward in three flips, and, suddenly, Zuko's powers are gone. Azula's eyes flash.

The Acrobat. Well, isn't this funny. And The Blue Spirit is her ally... and she just struck her ally down to save Azula... Azula supposes it is love.

"Come on, come Azula, we have to go," Ty Lee shrieks, seizing Azula by the arm and pulling her off of the ground. They run through the park and stop at the Alice in Wonderland monument, ducking beneath the metal statues, hidden.

"You didn't tell me you were The Acrobat."

"You didn't tell me you were my _arch rival_."

"You are the most insufferable goody two shoes. And I thought I was dating someone more morally questionable."

Ty Lee kisses her. "I think I may flip sides."

"Hmm?" Azula smirks wickedly. She may be cold and calculated, but she does find it romantic and messily hot that she could have corrupted the angel of New York City.

"I'm starting to think that maybe evil has its perks." Ty Lee raises an eyebrow with a small, seductive smile.

"Like what?"

"Like you."

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><p>AN: This one was really weird, but fun to write. I have no clue if I pulled it off, but I hope I did.


	40. Marriage Counseling Part I

A/N: Since 24 reviews last chapter asked me to write a multichapter superhero AU based on the last drabble, I've started outlining one. It should come out in summer; I'm glad to write it.

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><p><em>(Theme Forty<em>) **Marriage Counseling Part One**

_(As Prompted By) _**Zippy Saboteur**

"Are they fighting again?" Mai whispers, trying to peek around the corner without getting caught. Zuko shrugs with a small grimace. "Maybe if we run by really fast..."

The state of Azula and Ty Lee has become completely terrifying to everyone in the palace. The fights start over incredibly petty things, but eventually devolve into them screaming each other's flaws, and gradually, it is the same fight again and again. Zuko and Mai learned the hard way to avoid their melodramatic lover's quarrels at all costs, but at the moment, Azula and Ty Lee are standing directly between Zuko, Mai and their bedroom, and it is three in the morning.

"They'll see us," Zuko murmurs as Ty Lee accuses Azula of being the most selfish and inconsiderate person she has ever met.

"Okay, if we go outside around the courtyard, and then climb through the window, I think we can avoid them," Mai suggests with a crack of her knuckles as Azula calls Ty Lee a vapid whore.

Mai chews on her lip and cocks an eyebrow at Zuko. He seems to be thinking before slowly shaking his head. Ty Lee tells Azula she is exactly like her father, and Mai inhales sharply, her neck bones jutting out and her amber eyes wide.

"I'm intervening," Zuko says as Azula takes a deep breath, preparing for a tirade that will possibly end the fight, or extend it by another hour, depending on how angry Ty Lee is right now.

"Zuko, please, don't intervene. Don't die. Who will be Fire Lord?" Mai mumbles, seeming genuinely concerned. That solidifies the fact that Zuko needs to do something about this before it gets even more out of hand.

"My Uncle until Izumi is old enough. Don't let them give it to Azula. _Don't_." He walks into the room as Mai slowly shakes her head. "Hey, you two, please, calm down, maybe?"

Ty Lee and Azula spin around to face Zuko at the same time, Azula's lips curled into a snarl and Ty Lee's face bright red, mascara streaking down her face. Zuko swallows, and reminds himself why this is important to do. While his wife, sister and soon-to-be sister-in-law are skeevy, underhanded and evade doing the right thing as if they are allergic to it, Zuko has learned over time that helping other people is an invaluable skill.

"This isn't your fight. I suggest you turn around and walk back into the hallway before I'm forced to harm you," Azula says, pointing one clawed finger at him. Zuko's eyes shift to focus on her finger before he blinks several times.

"I didn't want it to come to this, Azula," Zuko says as calmly as he can, slowly shaking his head. "I'm sending you two to marriage counseling."

Ty Lee laughs mirthlessly and Azula's eyebrow twitches. "I do not do psychologists, psychotherapists, counselors, or any other kind of shrink. You should've learned this by now."

"It has to happen. You know, Mai and I will do it too, if it makes you feel better."

"What?" exclaims a gravelly voice from the shadows of the hallway. "Zuko!"

Azula crosses her arms. "My fiancee can decide."

"Oh, oh now you're not a complete control freak. When you need me to look like the bad guy," Ty Lee says shrilly in a tone that could shatter eardrums.

Azula shrugs. "Your choice."

"If you say that one more time─"

"Marriage counseling for both of you! As Fire Lord, I declare this as some kind of legal thing!"

"You can't just do that. That is sheer abuse of power," Azula says in a tone that would make most grown men run, taking one step towards Zuko. He fights his urge to step backwards and straightens his back. "You have _no right_."

"It is well within my rights as Fire Lord of everything. I am done!" Zuko exclaims and Ty Lee wraps her arms around herself with a baby animal face. She bats her eyelashes and Zuko glares at her. "Don't look at me like that, Ty Lee! Neither of you are getting out of this. I declare it as Fire Lord! I declare it!"

And he quickly walks away as they stare at him in shock and confusion.

"That went so well, Zuko," Mai murmurs sardonically as he grabs her hand and they bolt for their bedroom as Azula and Ty Lee are distracted by the fact that Zuko has legally prescribed them counseling.

_To Be Continued . . . _

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><p>AN: **Shameless Promo**: I've posted a Tyzula fourshot; it's called Hurricane Season and is rated M. It's not an Azula Redemption like I usually write, and I'd love it if people checked it out :3


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